Happy New Year!

I'm am headed off to bed on this cool, winters night. I didn't want to leave 2008 without a warm wish of Happy New Year to you all!

and... as a side note. Everything went smoothly with Owen in San Antonio. His right ureter still needs to behave. It enlarges to 3-4 times the diameter when filling with fluid... and drains appropriately. So, we will have him on antibiotics for the next year and go back to see Dr. B next December. YAH!

A few Christmas Break Pictures

This is what Christmas looks like at my Aunt house, with her 13 grandkids plus my two. WOW!

Here is Caleb's new acquisition from Santa. He's proud! And, yes... I did get him a helmet... but the little nugget had a HUGE cranium... so we had to get him a size 14 helmet! GEEZ!

Here is our baby, not so baby anmore! Playing with stuff from Santa... and sitting up!

Both boys playing in Owen's room... with Owen's toys! Love my babies!

I hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours.

6 months

albeit a bit late ... here's Owen's 6 month stats. (we were waiting on the official measurements to give an accurate description - and we did that today.)

At 6 and a half months Owen is:

• 15 pounds, 5 ounces
• 26 inches tall
• rolling over from each side
• army crawling and really crawling to reach for whatever his heart desires
• smiling at everyone with his one-toothed-cuteness
• petting those people he loves, especially if they have five o'clock shadows
• pulling and stroking mommy's hair for affection
• arching his back and sticking out his lower lip if dissatisfied
• he has the LONGEST & THICKEST eyelashes you've ever seen

And, we go Monday to torture my poor baby with another round of kidney studies in San Antonio. yuck.

Camping

Yup, you heard it right. Tonight (WEDNESDAY) my two BIG boys are camping. Remember the camper from Ohio? Well, it's parked out in front of our casa. Two men-types are bundled in sleeping bags and blankets with rope lights, and an electric space heater. "Little bit" and I will snuggle-up tonight, cozy in my warm, tempur-pedic, quilt-covered bed. I hope to sneak out and take a picture or two of the men-types snoozing in "El ancient" camper.

NVTS... that is what they are!! (That's a quote from History of the World, Part I... a Mel Brooks movie - HIGHLY recommended!)

um... WOW!

Need I say more?

Toe-tapping

impatient, much?!
I am so anxious to see our photos!
I keep checking SoGP every hour.
Like J has nothing else to do. LOL!)
Patience is a virtue...
but I'm not very virtuous.
oops!

**Edit to say that it's not like J has gone beyond her proposed time... it's just that I am like a kid on Christmas morning. I CAN'T WAIT to see what we get! :) It's all me - Not J! ***

In the mood...

If this doesn't get you in the mood for Christmas with a smile... then nothing will. ENJOY!!!

Any Takers?

This site is hilarious! I wonder if I could get on board...but they look overbooked. Maybe we could start a new one? Serious monkey business. Anybody want to play? So fun!

Mailbox surprise!

In our mailbox today was a WONDERFUL surprise. Along with the water bill (that I've overpaid, and now do not have to pay this month ... or next :) ) was a DVD of Owen's baby dedication. Actually it was a DVD of the entire service. This is awesome because I didn't get any pictures of that day. I also am IN LOVE with the music at our church, especially the Christmas music. AWESOME!!! So, now I will take the DVD to my bro to see if he can pull out a frame or three for the photo book. AND, maybe as a bonus, he can pull some of the music out and burn it to a CD for my car. That would be even MORE awesome.

So, if you missed the dedication (*AHEM, JENNI*) then, fear not! I've got it for you to borrow.

Love great surprises!

STILL!!!

Email is still down, district wide! I feel so lost! and yet...
I am able to get SOOO much more work down around my room. My grades are up to date, the final is complete! I am *cough* interacting with my students, like a good, effective teacher. (not that I wasn't before or anything!)

Oh, and there are only 5 days left until the break! Hallelujah!

Bring on the presents, trees, lights, family time, and all that jazz!

My tree is going to be decorated tomorrow, come hell or high water!

AND - one final note -


TGIF!!!

Santa is bringing Stockings!!!

Stockings have never been a big deal with my family. They were a HUGE deal with Brant's family. So, we are going to do the in between deal.


This year, Santa is bringing my boys stockings (along with their 3 gifts). I found some original, one-of-a-kind-ish ones on etsy. See?

I am SUPER excited!

***Edited to say that these are samples from the artist. I am only ordering TWO stocking for my boys. Brant and I have Mickey Mouse holding the sorcerers apprentice hats... and we are still loving them (they hold lots of goodies).***

Email down

Our school email is down for the count. So, if you've tried to contact any teacher/friend within SAISD, then... sorry 'bout 'ya. It's down district-wide. But, I did want to say,


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (to Crystal)

TOOTH!

Finally! Owen's first tooth has broken the pink surface of his gums! At 4 this morning, during our wee-hours feeding, I thought I'd feel around in his little mouth. And, lo and behold... the bottom, right, front tooth has breached the surface! I know he's been teething a while... but that explains the less sleepiness of this kiddo. ... and the diapers. :)

YAHOO for TOOTH #1!!!

Bullets, oh what fun!

I have been naughty on the posting front as of late. Not going to get coal in MY stocking, though.

• I just got back from a conference in Arlington over Autism. It answered lots of questions I had. BUT, it was also aggravating. There are little classes - sessions - that you attend. They are all held at the same time so you have to choose which to go to during that time slot. Friday, I went to the big assembly that let out at 10. The next sessions began at 10:30. I bee-lined to my desired session and arrived by 10:03. It was closed. This meant: NO ONE ELSE COULD GET IN. OH! I was mad! Another lady had been there since 9:30. It had been closed LONG before she arrived, she said. THAT is ridiculous! So, Sabrina and I marched our way downstairs and complained to the powers-that-be. To satisfy our anger, the powers-that-be took our names and put us on a "list" for the sessions we desired to attend for the next/last two sessions for the day. One session was for 1:30 (after lunch). and the next was for 3:30. I really wanted to go to the 3:30 one (it was a repeat of the one that was closed at 10:30.). So, I get to the last session at 3:04 (knowing my name is on the "list."). They have body blocked the hallway. No one else was allowed down the hall (save myself, of course - I complained and was let through) because the session had been closed. The sorry part? The session filled up by 1:00. People had been waiting in line for that session for over 2 hours! R I D I C U L... you get the idea.
• Man! That was a long bullet!
• Projectile vomit. Um. Yuck. Owen has had that today. It's due to the mucus sliding down his throat, just after he finishes a bottle. Cough, cough, cough, PUKE! Brant insists that it's because he's allergic (suddenly) to his formula. OR, that we're over-feeding the kid. So, to comply with his suggestions, I get a new formula, drop the number of ounces allowed back to 4, give him an antibiotic that we still had refill rights to, and voile! No more puking! Yeah. I'm sure it wasn't because he's mostly "dried" up now. Never mind that his eyes have been glued shut in the morning, and he looking like a volcano of snot. Yum! Need some more great visuals?! ... didn't think so.
• I love naps!
• Caleb had an eye-exam at school on Friday. He didn't fare so well. I am of the opinion that he just doesn't know his letters well enough to have passed. He will take a make-up exam in 2 weeks. We've got to work on the sight recognition of the letters H, O, T & V. He scored a 20/70 on his right eye, and 20/40 on his left eye. Thank goodness we have vision insurance. If he fails the next one, we'll take him to OUR doctor to double check it.
• Owen has his kidney check up in San Antonio on the 22nd. It'll be a drive down there and back type thing. That's on a Monday. So, HOPEFULLY, Brant can go with... I don't want to have to do that on my own. No fun!
• We did it! We finally booked with Jenny for our family picture shoot. It was awesome. A bit rushed - but that's our fault. Brant had to be at work at 3... and that really means at 2:45. But, I think we got some good ones. Jenny texted me to say there are some really cute photos. I am most looking forward to the booty-shot of Owen. No pressure there, Jenny! :)
• only 10 more days of school this year! 2 of those are early release days! That means we will have 79 day of you-know-what over! Then... it's just a matter of next semester... 96 days until summer. Not that I pulled up the district calendar and looked, or anything. Not that I'm counting. Not that I miss Bill. Not that I don't love my current students/teachers/principal... but, that means summer. and vacation. and um, no school.
• I am NOT in the Christmas mood yet. I may get Brant to bring the tree to the house by this Wednesday. But, it almost seems like a waste of time. In just 3 weeks we'll be putting it up. But, Caleb will want it. It will help to have it put up. oh, and I need to change out that darn wreath outside. Um. It's STILL Easter on my door. Like since LAST year! oops.
• I hear Owen hollering for that smaller bottle, now. I'm off to feed and diaper my baby... and see if I can wake the grump-a-lump of a nearly 4 year old from his nap.

Rock and Skooch

He's up on all fours. There go the legs!!! ... and we're getting nowhere.

He's up on all fours. There go the arms!!! ... and we're down flat on our tummy!

He's up on all fours. HEY! How on Earth did he get way over here?! I didn't even see him skooch.

Yes, folks, we are skooching. It's a mysterious thing... but he can get where he wants to go, SOMEHOW, without crawling.

Amazing!

Dedicated, no pictures

Owen was dedicated this morning, at church. I talked Dad and Brant into going. Sabrina and Dwain witnessed, too. I was so excited... but, I don't have a single picture to show for it. Not even one. I may have to re-dress my boys just for fun... and for the photo op. Hmmmm... now, where is that camera?!

Las Vegas Memory

As we were finishing up our first, ever buffet in Vegas...
and Caleb is brought to the table by my dad with ...
a plateful of small desserts to share...
Caleb sits down, sighs really big and states...
with a dreamy look of adoration in his eyes:

"Man! I love Vegas!"

He had five small, half desserts to choose from.
He chose to only eat 2.
And "MAN!" he was stuffed.
Good times!

Baby Dedication

Sunday is our baby dedication at Paul Ann. We're going to the early service, at 9. Please come. They asked us to provide 3 pictures for the slide show. One of just Owen from the hospital, one from some other time since the hospital, and one of the family. Here are the ones I chose to have displayed for the world... or at least the congregation at Paul Ann.

Owen, Freshly hatched.
Owen, October 3rd (4 months). Happy, giggling baby.

Our family at the Bellagio, Las Vegas hotel, November 27th.