She's lucky she's cute!

Hello family and friends. It has been a fairly busy week for us here in Pflugerville. This past weekend we went down to Katy for a weekend visit. It was a really relaxing visit. We mostly just hung out, which was really nice. My dad is going to be out of town and I knew if we didn't go down and visit last weekend that we probably wouldn't see him again until March.

I have been busy with lots of cleaning (my little girl is a little tornado!). The bigger space you have the more cleaning that needs to be done!! Every day it is like I have to start all over again! I always have to do things like cleaning the bathrooms and mopping the floors when both kids are sleeping (which is rare). Plus it is really amazing how much more laundry there is with each additional child. You think it won't be much because they are pretty small, but they get changed like 3 times a day, plus blankets and sheets need washing at least once a week, plus burp rags and car seats always need washing. It is crazy. I am sure all the moms reading this are probably laughing because they know just what I am talking about.

Yesterday I went to the dentist. It was a long visit. It was my first time to this dentist and they are really thorough. They took like 20 x-rays (and I am not exaggerating). Unfortunately I have 1 cavity. I am so bummed because it is only my second and it was one of those "Well, I don't really need to fill this but let's just do it anyway to be safe". Super annoying. I don't numb at all in my back teeth so I am pretty mortified to go back and get it done. It hurt so bad last time that I almost passed out. They were going to give me Valium (I think that is how it is spelled) but since I am nursing I can't take it. So, I will have to settle with just the laughing gas.

Daniel has been busy with school this week. I can really tell that his load is bigger this semester. I can't really complain because I was REALLY spoiled last semester and he does usually make it home by 4 everyday or at least 4:30. He has a couple of later nights next week though. Daniel has also been doing his home teaching this week so has been out until 9 yesterday and then again tonight. Not so fun for either of us, but I am glad it is getting done and I know he feels good about it too.

Elise is.... is.... LOUD!! She has definitely gotten louder. Unfortunately, she spends most her day whining or screaming. She is pretty lucky that she is so cute when she is not doing those things because otherwise I would go crazy. She has also learned to unstrap herself in her car seat-- this is, of course, unacceptable. I have had to pull the car over a couple times to get her repositioned correctly. She was also doing this with her high chair so we have moved her to a booster seat which is working out much better. ---- On the cuter end of things... she has just been adorable with Owen. She loves to play with him and talk to him and kiss him. It is a little cuter every day. Plus, she is talking so much. She repeats anything we say. It is fun because we sing songs together and finish the lyrics for each other.

Owen is a cutie pie. His face is thinning out a bit... not too thin, he is still big. But he is doing like Ellie did where about 3 months or so they start looking like babies and not newborns. I personally think that is when my kids are getting to their cutest stages. With Ellie I thought she was the cutest thing ever when she was about 5 months, which is funny since that is when she was waking up every night on the half hour! We will see my favorite time with Owen. He really does love smiling. His dad gets him to smile quite a bit. Our little Owen is like a baby koala the way he hangs on his daddy. SO CUTE.

In the past week I have braved two stores with both kids... both times pretty disastrous. They both seem to have meltdowns simultaneously. So, I make the outings brief. Daniel says I need to be braver and take them both out more, but I say he should give it a try. I had to go out and do a little shopping though. We are about going broke dressing two kids. Thank goodness Ellie's growing is slowing a little bit, but Owen is faster than ever. I am now getting him 6-12 month stuff because he is fitting perfectly into 3-6 right now so I give it 3 weeks before he is out of it.

Doctor's visit

Quick blog entry (at least for me). We went to the doctor's on Monday. Owen weighs a whopping 15 lbs 7 oz. To put that into perspective for you, Ellie weighed 15 lbs 4 oz at 6 months old. That put Owen off the charts in weight and he is at about the 96th percentile in height. So he is proportionate, just big. Ellie weighs 23 lbs 4 oz, she is still kind of a shrimp in the weight department. Owen's shots were pretty traumatic for me. The first ones are the hardest. He didn't cry too bad at all, but he has been recovering these past 2 days. He has basically been sleeping almost non stop. Poor little guy.

Ellie helped me make brownies for FHE tonight (we forgot last night so we made up tonight -oops!). Usually making brownies or cookies means Ellie eats the batter. Wonder where she gets that from.....

Cutest Kids EVER!

Can you believe it!! We finally got a GOOD picture of Owen smiling. And I must say, he is one studly looking little man. Owen turned 2 months on Saturday so we are heading to the doctor on Monday. I am very eager to see how much he weighs. I am guessing at least 15 pounds which would put him over Ellie's weight at 6 months. He really has turned into the most fun little baby!! He smiles all the time, SO cute. He also talks a lot (coos). He reacts to our voices and follows us around with his eyes. Owen has definitely gotten into that stage where he only has eyes for his mom. I love it. His favorite place to sleep is on his dad though.

Our little Elise is looking pretty darn cute this Sunday. I am not going to lie, this little sweetheart has been testing my patience as of lately. She is usually screaming or being really cute. There is no in the middle. I still love her like crazy though. She is lucky. Ellie is learning her letters and colors. So far she knows A, B, C, Y and I. Y and I she kind of learned on her own. She knows Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and I think Brown too.

HONK! Here is Ellie honking Owen's nose and the two of them together below. Owen looks funny. What a little man!

Viva la Revolucion!

Erin bought us "Dance Dance Revolution" mats and a game right before the worst of the ice storm. Unfortunately the wireless mats she got at Fry's didn't work (guess that's why they were half off) and so we ended up getting cheaper ones on E-bay (not wireless though).

You can tell I'm fat and out of shape because I'm sweating and gasping for breath on the tutorial.
Erin justified this purchase by saying "If you get me this we can put off buying the elliptical machine." I can't even begin to tell you what's wrong with that statement.

Of course, Ellie has to play as well.

Poop Follows the Path of Least Resistance

My first day of classes was cancelled, so I've been enjoying my "ice day" today. NBC is calling it "Ice Storm '07", CBS is calling it "Winter Blast" (which, out of context, sounds more fun than it really is), ABC is calling it "The Big Chill", and I obviously have nothing to do but sit around and watch the news that has preempted the normal programming (not that the normal stuff is any better, but still). I may get another reprieve from school tomorrow, depending on how much freezing rain we get tonight. It's fun to stay home and play with the kids, but I really need to get started with the semester. Plus being at school saves me from the poop explosions (Owen's had two today). It's crazy, but we need to move him up to size 3 diapers (Ellie is in size 4). He was eight weeks old yesterday. The kid is a mammoth. And he's screaming right now, so I'm off to calm him down.

Look at Those Hams!

Hello all! It has been a fairly busy week for us. We have been running around trying to get the house in order. Yes, I know it should probably be done by now, but we are pretty slow moving. We only get a couple of things accomplished each day since we have to time certain tasks to Ellie and Owen's nap times. Once they are napping we do a mad dash to get something done.

Our biggest project this week was the garage. We managed to put everything that needed to go in the attic, in the attic (btw, it is great having an attic to store the crap). We also took pictures of the stuff we wanted to sell on Craig's list and we have some people coming to pick the stuff up sometime this week. It'll be really wonderful to be rid of that stuff, finally be able to put both cars in the garage and make a little cash while doing it.

The kids are doing really great. Elise has been introduced to her potty. We aren't going to be crazy intense about it since she is still a little young and we aren't real sure if she grasps the concept yet. I think right now she just thinks the potty is the new place to read books. But, we try to put her on it everyday for a little while and perhaps once a week I will be more vigorous about my efforts and see if that works.

Ellie and Owen have been particularly cute together lately. She loves giving him loads of kisses and rubs his head and points out all his body parts (i.e. nose, ears, hair, toes, knees, elbows, fingers, etc.). She is really cute talking to him and tries to get him to smile all the time. She usually gets one from him too! She has been a great helper with Owen. Ellie is pretty good at fetching me a burp cloth when needed and can usually find me a pacifier when I can't even find one. Her most favorite helping with is changing Owen's diaper. She even comments "EW!". I agree. Mostly she just rubs his head and tries to talk to him because he usually is crying while being changed.

Owen is such a sweetheart!!! He really is a great baby. He is waking up at midnight and 3 every night which isn't bad at all. He still is stuffed up most the time when he sleeps so he often wakes himself up and that is a little frustrating. I think that he would only wake up once at night if he had some kind of allergy medicine. I am waiting until his doctor's appointment to ask about that. Also, both kids have eczema so we need to get some medicine for that.

Just yesterday we put Owen in the exersaucer. He LOVED it! I think because it supported his butt and all around him so it was almost like he was being held. I can't believe my 7 1/2 week old baby is already using an exersaucer! His feet already touch the ground and everything. He holds up his head really well too! And will you look at those hams!!! He really does have the longest arms and legs. When he sleeps on you he almost can wrap his arms fully around you. Isn't he cute? You should see him smile, he lights up the world! He is also a little wriggly thing. I imagine he will end up being like his cousin, Kyra and just be GO GO GO!

Other happenings: The kids play room has been getting quite filled up. We brought out other baby things like the exersaucer and the jumper and such since Owen is so close to using all of it. Plus we bought Ellie her kitchen and with her car, shopping cart and horse it looks like our children might be a little spoiled... not OUR children!!

I sold all the clothes that Owen didn't even fit into when he was born. It was hard because they were all really really cute, quality clothes, but since I bought them so cheaply, I was able to sell them on ebay for a decent profit. We have been scavenging around to find the junk we don't use or want and trying to sell it. One, because we could use the money and two, because we could use the room and less clutter!

Daniel went back to school on Thursday for half a day to get things in order for next week. I suppose they are in order because he didn't go back on Friday. I think he is anxious to get back. He needs that schedule and so do I. Plus, he gets a little restless and starts driving me nuts. It has been nice having him around for setting up the house and for double teaming with the kids. He also mowed the lawn for the first time this past week.

Isn't this last picture hilarious? Owen is like, "Save me Mom!".

Our diet has been going pretty well I suppose. Basically we are hungry because we have to train our bodies to eat smaller portions. We have stopped soda and sweets--- still working on bread... don't think I can give it up, but we can move to eating more whole wheat. I just got a bread machine so I still want to use it so I will make whole wheat bread. We have also been walking around the neighborhood. Ellie and Owen like the stroller so they are pretty good on the walks. Plus, we have a good neighborhood for walking/jogging. So, hopefully we shed some weight. I am sure we will. Mostly we need to just go out and do more stuff. It is hard with two kids but we have been living like hermits so we should be able to improve the situation somewhat.

Potty Training Begins

Potty Training: Day Two: Attempt Two:

Well, I went out and bought Elise her own potty. It is good because it is easy to put her back on it when she gets off and she thinks it's a stool, so that makes her happy.

I opened up the box and she was eager to sit on the potty right away. So, I stripped her down and she sat on it for about an hour and a half. We read books and she drank her water, it was great! Except... no pee. So, we decided to take a break because I needed to start dinner. I attempted the pull-up--- that was a no go and then I attempted the panties which are way too big for her--- she thought it was a swim suit so decided to go get her other swim suit for me to put on. So, we ended up putting a diaper on her again.

Five minutes later, she wanted to sit on her potty again! Of course, I was psyched and stripped her down again only to discover that her diaper was warm and she had JUST taken a pee. Basically we missed our opportunity. The first time she goes is the key I think.

The real beginning is tomorrow when we are dedicating our whole day to toilet training. We will be spending a lot of time in the bathroom tomorrow... a lot of time.

Pictures and updates Galore!

I am trying to give the masses what they ask for: MORE PICTURES!!! I am going to try and take more pictures this year and do more with the pictures I take. This means more emailing out pictures, printing off pictures, hanging pictures around the house, getting professional pictures done regularly and putting together photo books for each child once a year. I think this is a goal I can achieve since I enjoy taking pictures and I think that Owen and Ellie (as well as subsequent children) will appreciate it!!

This first picture is of my two men! Aren't they handsome. Owen was on a smiling kick so I was trying to get a picture of it, but of course my flash takes forever so he always gets more of a constipated look rather than a smile.

This second picture is of my little sweetheart, Owen, having tummy time. I don't know if he likes it all that much, but Ellie loves it! We have a little song that we sing while he is having his tummy time. It goes like this, "tummy time, tummy time, tum-my time! Come along 'O' baby it's tummy-tummy time!" Ellie LOVES singing along and often requests tummy time by name and has even started spreading out a blanket for Owen.

This third picture is a personal favorite. I can't help but laugh when I look at it! I was trying to get a nice picture of Ellie but instead she came running after the camera. She looks like a pirate. Cute pirate.

Potty Training: Stage 1: We tried a meager attempt at potty training on Saturday. It ended abruptly after we realized Ellie was afraid to sit on the toilet. She is also afraid of her pull-up underpants and putting on her regular diaper while the fasteners are fastened (we tried to use the diaper as a pull up to see if she would transition a little better... didn't work). But she is SOOOO ready!!! Today I checked her diaper and she was clean, then she ran into the room and climbed on top of the changing table and a minute later she starts yelling, "poo! poo!" and sure enough, she needed her diaper changed, she had done her business!!! I think we just need a different strategy. Tuesday is our next attempt since we will be home all day. I just don't think I had all the materials we needed.

This fourth picture is of Ellie and Owen having tummy time again. Just thought it was cute and should include it. I am still working on getting a really good picture of the two of them together. It is seriously like pulling teeth. We took the kids to JC Penney yesterday for professional pictures and it was either one kid or the other screaming bloody murder. We ended up only getting one of them together. Oh well, I guess we will have to attempt it again soon. Ellie was mostly just scared. She is a wuss.

And lastly, this is another picture of my darling Owen. He is such a sweet baby!!! He looks pretty Weber in this picture I think. You can't really tell that he is a pudge in it either. He is so good natured. We are still working on him having alone time without someone holding him, but we are progressing in that and it has already gotten much better. He is a really noisy sleeper and eater. So much so that we decided that we need to move over to the noisy Sunday School class because we got a lot of stares in the adult class today. Well, it was a good couple of weeks in a quiet Sunday School class.

Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures. I am really going to try and be diligent about it especially since Brent and Carolee will be so far away for so long. It might even get a little annoying, so I won't feel bad if you delete my blogs. :)

New Year's Resolutions

This year I'm going to try to guilt myself into keeping my New Year's resolutions. Knowing that all of you will know when I fail may give me the push I need to get this stuff done. That said, if you don't see or hear from me again this year, you'll know why.

1. Lose 30 lbs. (Goodbye DQ and fast food)
2. Organize and backup the pictures on the computer (we have almost 4 years worth - it's a big job and continues to get bigger the longer I put it off)
3. Get something done with the research (really anything would be an improvement over last year)
4. Write a weekly blog entry (I've really been slacking lately)
5. Kiss my kids more (I need to have at least one of these that I know I'll do)

So there you have it. I'll start on Number 1 as soon as I finish off the Oreo's still in the pantry. And I think there's some brownie mixes that can't go to waste, and maybe a couple of bags of chips....

Home is Where Our Bed Is

Well, we made it home!!! While we enjoyed our Christmas vacation, it really was time for us to be back home. With so much more to do on the house, we were really getting anxious to get back.

We had a wonderful vacation. Spent lots of time with family. It was good to spend Christmas with Pat before he left on his mission. It was also good to see the McPherson side again and we enjoyed the quieter Christmas with the Webers as well. Elise received a ridiculous amount of toys, books and we are buying her a play kitchen tomorrow. So, she continues to be spoiled :). Owen didn't receive as much because he is still a newborn and we have too much junk for him to grow into. He did get a pretty good amount of clothes which he desperately needs. In the time we were in Katy for Christmas Owen moved up a diaper size and grew out of his 0-3 month clothing. I still have to return some of the things I bought for him because I had bought 0-3 months thinking he would be in them for awhile... guess I was wrong!

Being a family of four is going fairly well. Ellie is starting to slip into some terrible two habits- mostly screaming bloody murder whenever she doesn't get her way. On the flip side, she is learning faster than we can teach (which means she is picking up on all sorts of things whether we want her to learn them or not). Her vocabulary has probably doubled over the past month and she is in the process of learning her letters and colors. Owen has spent the last week and a half being held so I am going to try and break him of that. It is tough though. We have been home only mere hours and he is already wanting to be held constantly. Should be a rough transition I think. He is now smiling... which is super cute. He is very handsome and has begun cooing and making all sorts of cutie pie noises.

We have loads to do now that we are home and before Daniel goes back to school. Daniel's parents just hauled a huge truck load of stuff up for us. So, we have even more boxes that need unpacking and more stuff to put away. Plus we have doctors appointments and more shopping to do... yes I said more shopping.. it never ends with us I tell ya. I feel a little more okay with all the stuff we have to do now that we are home and can plan out what needs to be done. I am pretty excited to go to bed tonight... we have missed our new King bed. We got a new bed set and new pillows for Christmas so I am hoping for a restful sleep!

Another Weber Week

It has been a pretty good week at our house. The kids are really enjoying their new home and so are we. I must say that perhaps my favorite thing is having a garage. It is so easy to get the kids in and out of the car when I am not having to worry about Ellie running into the streeet or hiking up or down 3 flights of stairs.... it is heaven!!! Plus we don't have to deal with the cold or heat outside. It is fantastic!

The picture to the left is funny because I was taking a picture of them while Ellie was reading and then she realized I was taking a picture and leaned over for the pose.... she has learned to pose now. It is cute for the time being :). Anyways, that is why Daniel is laughing is because she leaned over for the pose.

This next picture is of Ellie playing in the yard. I try to take her out at least once a day so she can play around. We bought a ball and she enjoys fetching it (for now). Hopefully we will collect a few more outdoor toys for her to play with. We had some of her friends over last week and they all played in the backyard for about an hour and a half!! One of her friends was licking a puddle she found... Ellie didn't lick any puddles... thankfully!

We also went on a walk this week. Hopefully when Owen gets a little older to withstand the cold a little better we can go on them more often this winter. I imagine we will definitely take advantage of the neighborhood more in the Spring. There is a playground in the neighborhood but we didn't stay there long because I think we were interrupting a teenage makeout session.

This week Elise and I made a gingerbread house. I just bought a kit at HEB because it looked fun. Building a gingerbread house is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be! But, we managed. Sure our house started leaning quite a bit, but Ellie enjoyed putting on the candies. She has enjoyed eating the candies too!! The house is starting to look a little gross so I imagine we will trash it tonight when Ellie is sleeping.

Owen has been pretty good. Last night he woke up quite a bit, but I don't think he will keep doing that, I think he just has allergies or something that makes his nose stuffed up and makes it hard for him to breathe. At least Daniel and I are crossing our fingers because we really enjoy our sleep. He has been getting cuter everyday. He has really pretty eyes and holds his head up pretty well for a four week old. Plus, he is our kid, so you know he is pretty good looking! ahahha... just kidding... not really.

This last picture is really funny. We were trying to get a good picture of Elise and Owen together. So, we were trying to pose them together. We put Owen in Ellie's arms while she sat inside the boppy, but when we told her to smile, she went into "pose" mode and got all into it and poor Owen came rolling on down. That was the last one we tried of her holding him. Maybe in a few months...

Daniel is done with school for the semester. He will go back a couple times next week to do some research work, but for the most part he is done. Perhaps we will do a little more on organizing the house. We shall see. As for me, I managed to get Owen's announcements done and our Christmas letter written and ordered the picture I am putting in with the letter. So, I have been fairly productive. Hope everyone's week has been good!

Owen pictures and more...

Owen is now 2 and a half weeks old and getting cuter everyday. He has been an excellent sleeper at night. Now that he is 2 weeks old he is starting to come into his own. He enjoys being held for naps now (used to that with Ellie) and eats like a pig. Basically, whenever he is awake he wants to be eating and he feels the need to be FULL at all times and gets mad when he is not topped off completely. This picture below is of Owen having his first submersed bath. He really enjoyed it! We got some pretty cute video of him. He reminds me of Ellie in this picture (minus a few rolls). Doesn't he have pretty eyes? We took the kids to the doctors on Tuesday. Owen is now 11lbs. 3oz. and Ellie is about 22 and a half. So, I think Owen is going to catch up soon! I don't think Ellie was that weight until she was about 2 months old.

The picture directly below was taken last night. He looks pretty cute dressed in his "candy cane" pjs. While he doesn't really fit in most of his newborn clothes I think we have just a week or two left on newborn pajamas! This picture was taken on our new bed which Owen loves!! Sometimes at night he lays with us in the bed. Of course that is where he would always like to be! I have to be diligent about him sleeping in his bassinet. When I feed him in bed though, sometimes I fall asleep so he gets away with it for a couple hours.

The picture below is of Jack (Owen's friend-- also the little brother of Ally who is Ellie's play friend). Jack was born a month earlier than Owen and Owen weighs more and is bigger than him! I thought this picture was funny. We will have to see if Jack catches back up to Owen! I am not sure though the way Owen eats!

The picture below is of big sister Ellie. She really has been so great with Owen. Sure she is still a baby herself and needs one on one time from both mom and dad still, but she really has been doing surprisingly well. Elise loves to give Owen kisses and is always very concerned when he cries. She is good about giving Owen his pacifier when he needs it or doesn't need it even (and also gives it to herself occasionally!). She loves to feed him a bottle and has learned to wipe his mouth with a burp rag. Usually Owen can suck down a swallow or two before Ellie rips it out of his mouth and wipes him before reinserting.

Elise has really been enjoying more space in our new house. Things are still kind of a mess and we are not even close to being completely moved in so she has a bit more to get into, but still she loves it. She really enjoys the backyard and going outside... but we need to get her some outside toys to play with.

Today I took the kids for our first outing alone together. It went really well. We went to the park and I put Owen in the carrier and was still able to chase down Elise. Of course, I realize he won't be small for long so I will have to come up with a new solution for taking them out to the park!

I must say that having two kids is not as bad as I thought it would be. I was glad I had someone around for the last 2 weeks to allow me to heal and get a little more acclimated to having more than one child. I mean, I am way busier and am constantly doing something, but I think I will be able to handle it. That is good since they'll be sticking around for awhile!

Owen Brent Weber

Owen Brent Weber was born on Monday, November 20th. I went in for my induction at 7 and had him at 5:10 p.m. So, things moved fairly quickly. My doctor wasn't going to be on call that night so she had the nurses up the pitocin every hour to get me going. At about 2 o'clock I was 6cm and three hours later I was pushing! I started out the day thinking I would go with the contractions for as long as I could stand them and it turns out that it wasn't very long. Contractions hurt!! So, I was happy to get my epidural. Once I started pushing, it only took 3 pushes to get Owen out!! This was pretty amazing seeing as he weighed a whopping 10lbs 3oz! He is quite a large baby. I think Ellie was a month or a month and a half before she weighed in at that.

Besides flopping around on the floor from being moved too early and having no feeling in my legs and having both the veins in my hands blown out by an inept nurse, things really went well. Much quicker and easier than Elise. We were pretty anxious to get out of the hospital and left 24 hours after Owen was born.

Ellie has been really cute with Owen. She really enjoys giving him kisses and stroking his head. She also likes to give him his pacifier and help with diaper changes. She does get pretty clingy and jealous when I am feeding Owen and she wants me to hold her while she drinks her juice. She also cries when he cries and tends to be a little rough with him at times. For the most part, they are pretty cute together.

Unfortunately, Ellie has come down with a pretty bad cold the past few days. She was really in pain earlier today and has been more difficult than usual. It has made being home a little challenging. I have also been feeling a little worse the past day or so. I think I have tried doing too much and need to realize that I am still healing and take things easy. It is frustrating though because I know I can handle things normally, but when I can't handle it in the condition I am in, it can make me a little emotional. Of course, those hormone changes come with the territory and I have already had several breakdowns since being home... poor Daniel.

Daniel has loved having Owen around. They are pretty cute together, I must admit. Daniel enjoys looking into the future at Owen's lucrative football career. He is pretty certain that Owen will be a linebacker. The only question is will he play for the Cougars or the Longhorns before moving onto the NFL? Owen Weber does sound like a good athletic name.

The picture to the left is Ellie sitting in Owen's chair. She wants to be a baby again.

Last Doctor's Appointment-- Yippee!!

Well, I had my last doctor's appointment today. It is a relief that it's the last one. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any more progression, but that is okay. I have kind of accepted that Monday is the big day. I have lots of cleaning and grocery shopping to do before then anyway. Plus, we could use to do a little packing this weekend as well.

We are getting pretty excited for our new addition to come in 3 days!! We are getting out all the newborn gear and getting things ready for Owen to come. I have had almost everything for quite awhile now so it has been good to go through everything again and take note of what we have.

Elise Louise has been quite the handful the last week or so. She has kind of been a little nightmare. You can't tell it from the angelic picture that I have included but she really has been a handful. I think she knows that changes are coming because it seems like just a week or so ago a switch came on for her and she has started acting out more. Plus, waking up in the middle of the night and crying for no apparent reason. I guess we can't really blame her. I mean, with the new baby and moving things are going to be very different for her. Plus, she is just getting to that age... pre-terrible twos!!! On the sweet side, she has been quite a helper. She continues to help me with all of the household chores and has become increasingly interested in helping me out with doing the dishes. Right now it is just her standing on her stool and watching me and occasionally reaching out to touch some of the soap bubbles. I imagine it will become more involved over time.

Daniel is glad that his most busy days are past him and that he finished the last day of school before Owen comes. I think he plans on taking all of Thanksgiving week off even though he has some classes scheduled early in the week. I guess we will see if he changes his mind and wants a little peace and quiet at school :). We bought Daniel new glasses last weekend because Ellie broke 2 pairs of old ones. He really needed new ones anyway so we were lucky that he'd already gotten an eye exam. Anyway, hopefully they will be ready by tomorrow.

The new house is just waiting for us to move in!! We keep saying how much better things are going to be with more space and running room. We plan on moving some boxes over to the house over Thanksgiving.

Another pregnant week

Another week has gone by and I am still pregnant. Apparently willing yourself to have a child doesn't work. I have been feeling increasingly uncomfortable which is common in late pregnancy, but I am sure my discomfort is worse than anyone else's.

Friday's doctor's appointment was a little disappointing for me. The baby seems to be doing good (which is great), but I am not much closer to giving birth. I did dilate another 1/2 cm but that isn't really substantial, so I will likely not give birth until my induction date. I was really hoping she would change her mind and induce me early and I could give birth this weekend, but that was a no-go. Oh well, I guess I can hold out another week or so-- it just isn't fun.

I think this week I have been getting a little more worried about taking care of two kids. I just want to make sure that Ellie is still getting everything she needs and at the same time giving Owen all I can. Elise is still a baby though so I want to make sure that I am not making her grow up too fast. There is also a bunch to do before Christmas so that is probably adding a bit to my stress, but overall I think I am going to be ok with all of it.

We finished all of our Christmas shopping except for the presents for Ellie and Owen which we will probably not buy until we get to Katy. So, I feel good about that! We did our inventory for the new house so now we are just waiting to get the keys around Thanksgiving time. We are pretty excited that Ellie and Owen will have more room and that we can buy the bigger toys that we are usually avoiding.

Today we cleaned out the car, switched Ellie's car seat to the other side and hooked up Owen's seat. Since he could really come at any time we thought we should be prepared. I think Ellie doesn't mind the other side of the car but she has been giving some funny looks to Owen's car seat sitting next to her.

Daniel's busy week is over. It was stressful for both of us because he just kept telling me that he would be toast if Owen came before the week was over. So, I am glad that we were able to hold off so Dan wouldn't be too stressed out. Daniel has given me permission to have Owen now. Isn't he nice? :) Things will pick up a little bit after Thanksgiving but should be slower the rest the year. I am glad for that since Daniel will want to spend lots of time with his new son and his daughter.

Ellie is napping right now. She has been sleeping so great lately. She slept 11 1/2 hours last night!!! Plus taking about an hour to hour and a half nap. This is such a wonderful schedule that I hope she will be able to keep it through the holidays. Of course, she won't nap IN her crib. I don't know why, so we just lay her on the couch and she will snooze there. I am hoping when she moves to a real bed that she will be fine napping in her room. We shall see!!

Painful weekend

It has been an expensive day for us here in Austin. We dropped over $3000 today and have nothing to show for it!! We went to Sears in search of a washer and dryer for our new house, but ended up buying a king size mattress set instead. We decided to wait on the washer and dryer in hopes of a better sale around Thanksgiving but they were having a 50% mattresses sale that we couldn't pass up! We also signed our lease today and paid our security deposit and first month's rent. So, it was a painful day for us! We are pretty excited about moving into a bigger/better place.

Well, I am feeling huge and the measurements will attest to it. I went to the doctor's yesterday and my uterus measured 43 cm (I should have measured about 36 or 37)! This is 5 cm more than just last week!!! So, I went to get an ultrasound done to check the size of the baby. Yes, he looks fairly big and they guess he weighs about 8 lbs already. From the ultrasound they say that I am more like 39 weeks along instead of 36 or 37. There can be a lot of reasons for measuring big. Sometimes it is a big baby, or a lot of fluid or sometimes they find problems of some other kind. I probably have a combination of an excess amount of fluid and a big baby. It is the BIG BABY part that scares me. So, I am anxiously awaiting labor to start so I can get this butterball out!!


Elise is doing well. The above picture is her in the morning, posing with a little bed-head. We had a bit of a scary time earlier this week with Ellie. I had just taken her to the playground and we walked about the stairs together and I noticed that she was really whiney and was favoring her left hand. She wouldn't let me near it and cried whenever I touched it. So, it seemed like she broke it or something, but I had no idea how she did it!!! So, freaked out, I took her to the pediatrician who said she had "milk maid's elbow". Basically what it is is that she partially dislocated her forearm. She must of done it reaching for something. The doctor just turned her arm and it popped right back into place and she was instantly better. It was pretty scary for me though. I thought I had broken her. Plus, it was just another thing that was happening before all this other craziness.

Movin' on up!

We are having a baby in 2 1/2 weeks (or less), Thanksgiving is 3 weeks away and Christmas is just around the corner. So, we have decided to move the first week of December!!! Yeah, we are crazy. Here is how it happened...

When we got back from Katy this summer, we realized that our apartment is getting cramped. With another child coming, we knew that we were going to have to find a place a little bigger and with another bedroom. As I have been researching apartments with 3 bedrooms I realized that it was about the same as renting a house or a mortgage payment. So, we knew we wanted a house. Mostly because it would have more running around room, wouldn't be on the 3rd floor and would have a backyard!!! We thought about buying but realized it would be too tight and risky on our budget, plus we probably wouldn't build up much equity while we were here. We also just didn't have a good feeling about buying here. I started thinking about how we were going to have to pay a penalty for moving out early on our lease no matter when we moved out so I thought that since we would have some time off for the holidays that we could move in December.

I just kind of started looking at some prospective places and somehow got myself linked up with an agent and that same day I went out looking. We looked at a couple of potentials but they weren't real impressive. On kind of a fluke we looked at this one place that was more than we wanted to pay but it had been on the market for over 4 months so we knew that it would be negotiable. It was bigger than other houses I looked at and nicer. I loved the set up of it and so our agent talked to the seller's agent and was able to negotiate a good price for us. Daniel came and looked at it that same day. Today we got the call that it is ours (at least for the next 2 years!).

It is a 1 story brick house built in 1999 located in Pflugerville. We are psyched because we will stay in our ward. It is just over 1600 square feet and feels pretty spacious for that size. There are two living areas. The living room is a living/dining combo that we aren't sure what to do with yet. We certainly don't want to buy a whole dining room set and aren't ready to buy a new sofa for it yet either. It might be a playroom for a couple months anyway. That leads to the kitchen/breakfast area that is open to the family room. The openness of it is Daniel's favorite part about it. It has a laundry room, 2 bathrooms, 2 kids rooms and a master bedroom. The master closet is pretty big. The master bathroom is like a regular bathroom but we don't need the garden tub/separate shower thing, so it will work fine for us. We will finally be able to get a King size bed in this room. It has a cute rectangular, flat backyard that will be perfect for the kids to run around and enjoy. And, of course, it has a 2 car garage that will also have some storage space in it.

We are sooo excited! No more hiking kids up 3 flights of stairs or groceries! Can't wait!

Hallo-weenie

Today was the ward trunk or treat and we managed to coax Ellie into wearing her octopus costume. As you can see from the "before" photos, it wasn't an easy job. We tried once in the morning and she cried for about ten minutes before she got used to it. When we tried again in the afternoon, she only managed a couple of whimpers.


It was worth it though. She was easily the cutest kid there. Everybody loved her costume and commented on how cute she was. Ellie and I made a ghost out of a lollipop, which she then ate and drooled all over her costume. We got a couple pictures of her coloring her trick or treat sack and "fishing" for stuffed animals. During the actual trunk or treat, Ellie managed to steal some of the candy in her pail and shoved it in her mouth, wrapper and all. That made for some oddly shaped peanut butter cups, to say the least.


You have to admit, she makes an awfully cute octopus, even if she was scared to death at first.