Personal Embarassment

One last little post for the weekend. Erin has been laughing at me all week because of this, and I'm a glutton for punishment so I'll post it on the Internets. On Monday, I was riding the bus to school as normal. I get off at my stop and as I'm walking up the stairs right next to the bus stop I realize I'm not carrying my laptop. I take a couple of seconds and try to remember if I left it in my car at the park and ride, but I distinctly remember carrying it onto the bus. At this point I realize that two and half years of research is driving down the road towards downtown Austin. So I chase the bus three stops until I'm finally able to catch up, bang on the bus door and get my laptop back. I was lucky that the bus got caught at a couple of long red lights or I never would have made it. And this story would be a lot less humorous if I hadn't got the laptop back.

I realized a couple of things about myself that day. Properly motivated, I'm not as fat and lazy as I thought I was. However the after-effects of sprinting a half mile the day back from Thanksgiving break showed me that I'm just as fat and lazy as I thought I was. I could barely breathe right afterward - I seriously thought I was going to pass out in the middle of the street. It took me two hours to get my breath back. I'm still recuperating from the cough I got from inhaling all that cold air (it was a chilly morning). And the day after I could barely move I was so stiff.

So now Erin has something else to laugh at me about. Apparently this incident still ranks below the time I walked through a door while drinking out of a milk carton and the milk carton caught the top of the doorway and I dumped milk all down my front. Or the time I tried to ride the grocery cart at Food-4-Less and biffed it right in front of her. She was there in person for those events, while this one she had to hear second hand. I hope she's grateful for the endless hours of entertainment I provide.

Thanks Giving

Our Thanksgiving at the McPherson's new house was a lot of fun. The food was good and plentiful, the family was fun and the football was in high definition. Good times. There was a Thanksgiving pool tournament and yours truly took home the championship. Goes to show that it's better to be lucky than good. Now I've got a huge target on my back coming into the Christmas holidays. Erin and I went model home shopping on Saturday and decided that we have expensive taste.

The Thanksgiving dinner actually looks small on the McPherson's gigantic table, but don't let that fool you - it was a real feast. The table can seat ten, and there were only seven of us.

Ells snarking at the camera

Owen discovered his tongue this weekend. He was sticking it out constantly. Seems like Ells went through a phase like this too.

Of all the televisions in the house, they choose the portable DVD player.

Grammy reading to the chillen.

The McPherson grandkids (minus one in utero). (l to r - Owen, Kyra, Ellie, Addy)

It really was a good time, and we're very grateful for the McPherson's putting their brand new house at risk by allowing two and unders in there. We were hoping to escape without damage, but a sharpie may have found its way onto the pool table bench cup holders, for which we apologize.

We are very thankful this year for beautiful healthy children, a home, family that loves us, and a Heavenly Father that is looking out for us. It's become apparent with this pregnancy that he is looking out for us more than we expected. We consider ourselves very lucky. On a personal note, I'm extremely grateful for the divine intervention that occurred during the god-fearing Cougar's 17-10 win over the wicked, devilish Utah Utes. As Austin Collie said after the game, "Obviously, when you’re doing what’s right on and off the field, I think the Lord steps in a plays a part.”

So true. So very true.

Oh, and I'm grateful for my wife too. She's great.

Owen's Birthday

Erin's been feeling under the weather lately, so she designated me to pick up the slack on the blog. While I might not be as descriptive or remember to include everything, you can count on me for a sarcastic comment or two.

Owen's birthday was a lot like Erin's birthday in that it dragged out for a week and a half. He got a couple of presents on his actual birthday, then some more the next day after we made it to Houston for Thanksgiving, then Grandpa McPherson took him shopping for more presents on Saturday. Needless to say, he made out like a bandit. He has more cars and trucks than he knows what to do with. Erin still feels bad for him because we didn't get him a cake specifically for his birthday (Thanksgiving pie is better in my opinion anyway), but I don't think it's a big deal. If he's mad at us twenty years later for not buying him a cake on his first birthday, then we won't have done a very good job raising him.

The kids both had colds last week, so here are the few pictures that don't show them with snot pouring out their noses.

Dork. But a cute dork.
All those presents and he wants to play with the cardboard box.
You can see the excitement in his eyes.

A friend gave Ellie these shoes (she calls them her "princess shoes") and she wore them pretty much the whole weekend. It was pretty funny to watch her skate around the tile floor in heels.

New pajamas and trucks - what more could a one year old want?

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Today is Daniel's 27th birthday. He is feeling kind of old, but I still think he is still fairly young. The amazing thing is how every year I seem to be attracted to a man that is just a little older... who knew I would be attracted to a guy this old? Weird. :) We didn't do a whole lot... when we were down in Houston a couple days ago, my parents got Daniel a Clearplay DVD player. It is a DVD player that can play movies of any rating and basically makes them "clean" to watch according to your specifications. We are anxious to try it out. Today, the kids and I set out to do a little birthday shopping. Ellie was really excited about going which surprised me a little bit. She just loves presents in general. We got dad a new wallet (his was falling apart), a remote caddy (because he is forever complaining about not being able to find the remote), and an organizer for his keys, wallet, phone, etc. He also got a much-wanted Simpsons PS2 game (which he is presently playing) from his parents that arrived today (perfect timing!). The gifts seemed to have gone over well. Ellie was so happy when dad was opening his gifts. After presents, we went out to dinner. It was a fun, yet low-key birthday... right up Daniel's alley.

It has been a little while since I have blogged. We have been busy, but also I haven't taken many pictures. Owen's whole head and face are all bruised up and he is kind of looking like he is abused lately. Ellie started biting his cheeks for no reason at all and that has left really bad bruises on his face. Owen also thinks he is smaller than he is and often beelines for the table thinking he can easily fit under and whacks his head. Poor kid.

Here are the kiddos playing together with the car. Usually they are fighting over it, but this was a rare moment when Ellie was happy climbing on top of the car instead.

Now, like I said, I haven't been taking many pictures lately, but I was surprised when I downloaded the pictures off my camera and I had about 40 on there. Ellie Lou has been taking pictures! And you know that her model is ALWAYS willing to have his picture taken... too bad none of the pictures had Owen's eyes open or didn't have a finger in the shot.

We are heading back to Houston/Richmond on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. We will celebrate Owen's birthday then (his birthday is actually tomorrow). I can't believe my little boy is a year old!! Below are a few pictures of my baby boy when he was just a couple days old.... I know he looks totally chubs... he was 10lbs 3oz, what do you expect!?

A visit from Grammy

Last week my mom came for a couple of days to visit. It was a fun visit. We took Ellie to ballet, went out to eat a couple times, did a little bit of shopping and just had a fun time!

Here is Ellie on the way to ballet. She loves wearing her sun glasses, but always wears them upside down.

The tumbling part of ballet is definitely Ellie's favorite.

Owen is starting to get a little restless while Ellie is at ballet for an hour, so we often take walks around the studio together.

Fazolis. These kids LOVE pasta!!!Owen especially dug in.
Thursday, Ellie went to preschool so my mom, Owen and I went out shopping and out for lunch. Owen was surprisingly very well behaved! It was a wonderful treat.
Here is sweet Owen playing.

Our Little Peanut

Thursday was my first prenatal appointment. Daniel had a presentation, class and a test on Thursday so wasn't able to come. Below is the first ultrasound. Surprisingly, I am not as far along as we thought. I thought I was going to go and be much further along than we thought, but I am not. I am only just over 7 weeks.... so hardly anything. This was a little disappointing because now I feel like this pregnancy is going to drag out a long time. However, it is better because this will put about 19 months between Owen and number 3 and Ellie will turn 3 before this baby is born. Plus, we will definitely have a June baby!!! We don't have any Junes in our family. June 26th is the official due date, but since Owen was so big, I will definitely be induced a week early. So, probably the 19th. --- But that will all depend on the size and health of this little one. Right now it just looks like a little peanut.

Daylight Savings

Well, it is November... this year has gone way too fast. ---- Yesterday, we tried to go to the Austin Children's Museum with the kids. We actually got all the way downtown and were looking for a parking spot when Ellie got sick and puked all over herself. So, we returned home. One day we will make it there as a family, one day. I don't think she is very sick, she just has this cough that won't quit. Oh well, we enjoyed a quiet day at home instead.

Here are Ellie and Owen last night as we were trying to entertain them so they would stay up an extra hour. We did, and while Ellie woke up at 4:45 (I expected worse from her) Owen is still soundly sleeping (this is the second night that he hasn't woken up at all during the night -- YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!). Owen was actually kind of a crab last night until I pulled out the camera and then he was all smiles. Owen has had such a sweet demeanor lately. He always has, but more so lately. He likes it when I hold him while he holds his milk (so does Ellie, so that should be interesting when #3 makes his/her appearance), he loves to run up and give me hugs, he gets really excited and rushes off to go play.... he is just so sweet.
It's hard to tell in the other pictures above, but Owen got his hair cut yesterday. We went to the children's hair place that is in Toys R Us. We figured he needed a pretty good cut since we're getting family portraits done next weekend. Plus, I think we are both a little afraid to take Owen's hair cut on still. He was particularly angry, squirmy, sad and upset this time. Poor kid. Anyway, above is a picture of Ellie at the hair salon playing the video games.

Trick or Treat

Last night was Halloween so Elise and I went out trick or treating. Dad and Owen held down the fort at home and passed out candy. It was our first Halloween in this neighborhood and we were happy that it went so well. There were lots of people out trick or treating and since the houses are all fairly close together, we made quick work of getting our candy. Plus, everyone was really nice. Ellie usually goes to bed at 7, but it didn't get dark until 7. Ellie also has a cold so about a half an hour into trick or treating, she wanted me to hold her and take her home. Poor kid.

Here we are right before we knocked on the door of the first house we went to where Ellie was mauled by two small dogs and it scared her for most of the rest of the night. She kept saying, "those dogs scared me" and kept asking "there dogs this house?" She really loved seeing all the other people all dressed up and walking around as well. We did look at each house and decide if it was scary or not to go up to. Some people really get into Halloween and really do up their houses and I can understand how that would be scary for a two-year-old.

Here she is ringing the door bell at a neighbor's house. Nice sign.

The last house we came to was our house. I am not sure she realized that we were back at our own house because she seemed surprised when Daniel answered the door.
Later, Ellie changed into PJs and helped dad shovel out candy.

Our trick or treating adventure only lasted about 40 minutes, but it was a good first for us and we had a good time. We have a ridiculous amount of leftover and newly acquired candy at our house. I sent Daniel to school this morning with a whole bag full to give away. I guess we will probably keep it around for a week or so and then toss it. Ellie just doesn't need all that candy and she also likes to feed it to Owen who also doesn't need it.

BIG NEWS! One tidbit of unrelated good news: Owen slept through the night!!!!! This is the first time ever!!!! We are so excited!! We just hope it wasn't a fluke. Too bad Ellie was sick and woke up so much. It had the potential to be a good night for me! Oh well! I am just happy that Owen is sleeping more. I think my prayers really are being answered!

Reading and Halloween Party

Here is Sunday at our house. Daniel reads the paper in bed and Ellie reads whatever ads came in the paper that day... lucky for her the Toys R Us Christmas ad came in this past newspaper.
This is where we have been finding the kids a lot these days. They love to go into Ellie's room and read books. Well, Ellie likes to read aloud to Owen and Owen likes to pull the books off the shelf and look through the books. Too cute.
Yesterday was our preschool Halloween party. It was a lot of fun. We played games, knocked down a pumpkin piñata, ate pizza and decorated cupcakes as seen in these pictures.
Elise was pretty proud of her creation. As soon as she was finished she licked all the frosting off the top and said "I'm done".
Ellie showing off her goody bag filled with even more candy (we had a lot of candy with the piñata and all).
Here is Owen getting in on the cupcake action.

He thought he was pretty hot stuff that he got to eat what the other kids were eating.

But, I think he takes the cake when it comes to the messiest cupcake eater.

Mom teaches Ellie and Owen to Dance

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Another Bun in the Oven

We are having another baby!! That's right, we are expecting baby #3! This baby was quite the surprise to us seeing as I was exclusively breastfeeding Owen and was taking birth control. I guess we are living proof that people can get pregnant when they are nursing and can get pregnant while taking birth control. I guess this baby really wanted to come!!!

Well, we figure we are due about the middle of June. Thankfully, I haven't been feeling my normal "pregnant"... no nausea, not too tired. In fact, we probably wouldn't have even known I was pregnant if I hadn't taken a pregnancy test that I take monthly, "just in case" (I am always scared I am going to get pregnant and still be taking the pill).

Elise and Owen are 18 months apart and Owen and #3 will be about the same (so Ellie and #3 will only be 3 years apart). YIKES!!! We are really scared and not sure if it has really registered, but also really excited. We just wish our other two would sleep through the night or at least cut down on the number of times that they wake up each night.

Our first appointment is November 8th so be watching for that blog! Overall, we are really excited for another little cutie to join our family. Daniel and I just keep telling ourselves how young we will be and how much fun we will have when all our children are out of the house since it will likely be sooner than anticipated. I always wanted to have all my kids by 30, but I didn't really intend to have 3 by 25.

Carving Pumpkins

Daniel and Ellie carved pumpkins this morning. I got Daniel an electric carving knife (not on purpose, it was all they had) so he was able to do some fancy carving with that.

Daddy helping Ellie with her pumpkin.
Ellie was in charge of scooping the goo out of her pumpkin.
Owen enjoyed watching, but I could tell he was a little jealous that he wasn't in on the action. Poor kid. Next year.
Daddy carving the big pumpkin.
Ellie scooping out the innards. She doesn't really like having her hands messy so she went straight to the bathroom after this and washed off her hands.

Owen looking very focused on what is going on.

Daniel starting to design and carve out the pumpkins.

The finished product. Apparently we had to do Homestar Runner. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a online cartoon kind of thing that is fairly popular.

Lucky Ellie had to do Homestar Runner, too. She didn't care though as long as the face looked "angry" and this one does I guess. Right now she is learning different facial expressions so when we asked her which she wanted on her pumpkin, she said "angry".