Wedded Bliss

We were married 4 years and 38 minutes ago. Time flies when you're having fun. And when you have a toddler. Happy anniversary, sweetheart. I love you!

Little Elves

Alix has much cuter pictures on her camera, but to tide you over until I get them -- and by "you", I mean Dawn -- here are John and Owen on Christmas night, in their matching Nick and Nora pajamas.

The Naked Chef

With all due respect to Jamie Oliver ...

Merry Christmas To All, and To All A Good Night

Blogging from beautiful (and surprisingly warm) Stamford, Connecticut where the stockings have been hung, dinner is nearly ready, and two toddlers are eagerly anticipating a visit from Santa. We spent the day traveling to and from Brooklyn, where we got to attend church and have lunch with the Galts.

Wherever you are, we hope that you all have a joyous and wonderfully merry Christmas!

Past the Plague

It seems that every year I manage to get some illness just in time for Christmas. Even our wedding was threatened by a severe cold. Everyone around at the time was nice enough to reassure me that it would be fine, but I know there were serious worries that I wouldn't be able to croak out my vows.

This year didn't disappoint. John came down with a non-descript virus last Thursday, the main symptom of which was a pretty high fever. Over the weekend he got worse, and Monday brought the diagnosis of the virus, plus viral pneumonia and probably a sinus infection just for kicks. (Radijazz, you may have seen the last of us.) And my sweet son was considerate enough to share the germs with me.

My mom reminded me that one year my brother and I both came down with pneumonia a week before family arrived for Christmas. So I guess I had this coming. Nothing makes the holiday shopping craziness more enjoyable than cruising Target and getting evil glares from all the people who could hear John coughing from the other side of the store.

You know, he hasn't been an especially sickly child -- he just manages to get a bunch of things at once. A veritable germ trifecta, if you will. He timed it exactly right, too. His last day of antibiotics will be the day we arrive in Connecticut -- where Owen will also be enjoying his last day of antibiotics for bronchiolitis and an ear infection. Clearly, these boys are related.

At any rate, he's doing much better now, if just a little cranky and more than a little spoiled after a week of bribing him to take fluids. But I'm sure a week with doting aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents will snap him out of that real quick.

Cool by Proximity

As if the ultra fancy mall wasn't enough ... now we have Ty Pennington right down the street! That's right -- this week ABC's Extreme Makeover:Home Edition set up shop just a few blocks down from our house, and today they revealed a very, very big new house for a family in our neighborhood. Five of this family's six kids have autism, and their house was having all kinds of problems. Tonight they moved into a roughly 5000 sq. ft. house with 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.

You know, it's a little strange telling people that it's right down the street from us. It's a really cool show, and so many of the families are in such dire need that you can't help but tear up when you see them get this great house. But everytime I talk to someone about it, I feel compelled to point out that it's not one of those situations where the family lives in a one-room shack with no heat. It was a nice looking house before it got Bobcatted. That said, and with my neighborhood pride set aside, the new house is a lot nicer looking.

It was amazing to see how fast this thing came together. On Sunday all the streets near us were blocked off -- we drive past this family's house every single day when we leave our neighborhood, so that was a little frustrating. And this was definitely the wrong week to be sick -- while we were holed up inside, friends were getting to be extras on the set and volunteering to help out with the house. On Monday they moved everything out. Tuesday they bulldozed the old house, cleared the lot, and poured the foundation. When we went by on Thursday, the walls were up and they were finishing the roof and trim. We stopped by again this morning after church, and the landscaping was finished and we could see them hanging curtains in the master bedroom. (I missed Ty by about 10 minutes.) We had lunch at the home of a family from church today, so we didn't stick around for the reveal. I had a great viewing spot, but left when a firetruck parked in front of us to clean the street, and someone official warned us that "we might get wet". The Statesman has a whole photo essay -- way better than the few pictures I snapped.

All of the trailers and trucks and police checkpoints are still in place, so we haven't yet seen the finished masterpiece for ourselves. The neighbors are probably happy to get everyone off their lawns -- although I've heard that they were compensated with all-access passes and will get new landscaping for their troubles.

So there you go -- when the episode airs sometime in February, you can say that you know someone who lives in that neighborhood. Won't you feel cool. ;-)

Oh, happy day!

Last week I found out that we are finally getting an Ann Taylor Loft in the general Austin area (which is reason enough to celebrate), and now today's paper offered a peek at what's going into the new mall across the street from our neighborhood. We already knew about Neiman Marcus, Tiffany, and Macy's, but now the word is out -- we are also getting a Barney's Co-op, Louis Vuitton, Lilly Pulitzer, and BettySport. Of course, I won't actually be shopping at any of these places, but just knowing that they are there makes me feel just a bit more fashionable and with it. And we all know that I need all the help I can get.

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree..

An update ... we suckered someone else into buying our pitiful Christmas "tree." But now that it's just over a week until our trip, and our house has been hit by the plague, it looks like we will be tree-less until we get to Houston and then Connecticut.

Little Feet

Life is a Highway

Or at least that's how it feels to us lately!

We were back on the road this weekend -- this time to Katy, for the very happy occasion of a dance and party in honor of Aunt Caitlin's 18th birthday. After the party, we spent the night at Dash and Shae's new house, and went to church and lunch with them on Sunday before heading back home.

John gets his first taste of smores

O Christmas Tree

This year marks our fourth Christmas together. It's always interesting to see how family traditions shake out when you get married. Not just who you spend the day with, but also the little things -- open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Big breakfast or big dinner? Wait your turn, or rip through everything in less than 5 minutes?

Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with one issue -- whether the tree should be real or artificial. We are both real tree people. We have nothing against artifical trees; it just wasn't our preference. And each year, the procuring of the Christmas tree has been a fun adventure. We would drive out to the Christmas tree farm, trudge through the fields to find the perfect (least crappy) one, cut it down, and then bring it back home, where we would lose half the needles as we dragged it in the door and the other half when Franklin figured out there were bugs in the tree. Ah, good times.

Last year, though, we decided to skip the tree farm and go to Lowe's, since John was only 8 months old -- too young to help cut down the tree. The entire process took less time than the drive to the tree farm. Our tree was green and fragrant, and lived through Christmas.

But this year, we won't be home on Christmas, and when we get home from our trip, we know we don't want to deal with a droopy, dying tree that may or may not have any needles or ornaments left on it, depending on how much the animals resent us leaving them.

Tommy declared that skipping the tree was not an option. Yes, Tommy. No, I'm not kidding.

So we decided to get a fake tree. Actually, we decided to get a temporary tree -- we hope to score one of those awesome after-Christmas deals on the fake tree of our dreams, but until then, I found a tree on Craigslist. I'm only slightly better on Craigslist than I am on EBay. This should give you some idea as to how this is going to turn out.

I didn't ask for a perfect tree, just one that would hold up a few ornaments for a week or two. So I made arrangements with the guy. We drove to his house. We paid a whopping $20 for the tree, a clump of which fell apart when we put it in our trunk.

I have since discovered, as the pathetic "tree" lays there unassembled in my living room, that you need a special fake tree stand. Fake tree stands that -- if you can find one that is not already attached to someone else's tree -- happen to cost more than the tree itself, which just annoys me on principle. Most fake trees come with this. $20 worth of garland on a stick does not. (Insert your favorite "you get what you pay for" story here.)

If you have any suggestions, please let me know. In the meantime, check out Dash & Shae's pictures of their trip to cut down their first Christmas tree together...

Another Favorite Farm Picture

 

Thanksgiving Pictures

Thanksgiving 2006 (Or, how much Baby Einstein can you watch while covering 3100 miles in 10 days?)

We are back from our I-35 adventure. We left in the very, very predawn hours last Saturday in a rented minivan loaded with snacks, CDs, toys, and DVDs. Let me say at the start that we are blessed with a very flexible little boy who was a dream to travel with. I may not be singing the same tune in a few weeks when we fly with him to Connecticut for Christmas ....

The first leg of the trip was about 12 hours. The novelty of the van and the excitement of being up driving in the middle of the night bought us a happy toddler. I was very strict about the use of the DVD on that leg. Only one video every few hours (25 minute Baby Einstein and Elmo installments.) One small problem presented itself pretty quickly. McDonald's playlands -- our oasis of exercise during this summer's pilgrimage to Amarillo, and what we were counting on for this trip as a way to let John burn off his energy -- don't seem to exist along I-35.

Our first stop was to see the Rankins in Kansas City. We got to check out their new place and even roast hot dogs and smores in their new fire pit, plus a trip to Union Sation. A bonus -- meeting up with Uncle Jack for a little while, since he couldn't make it to Mpls. for Thanksgiving. All in all, a great visit.

From there, we got up Tuesday morning and drove a blissfully short and quick 6 hours to meet Nana in Minneapolis. We relaxed there for a while, and then piled back in the van to head for the farm. Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike came up on Wednesday, and then Thursday we had possibly the best Thanksgiving dinner ever. ;-) John was especially fond of the sweet potatoes. Tommy and I even got to sneak out with Sarah, Mike, and Paul to see Casino Royale. Now that John's fully mobile, he could enjoy all the farm fun -- checking out the machinery, surveying the fields, and going for tractor rides with Uncle Paul. On Friday, Nana and I checked out the Black Friday mayhem at the local Pamida, and then we watched football. Not much to report there. :-)

Saturday morning meant that it was time to head home, via St. Louis to visit the Gibsons. We left at 6, and arrived at 6. A long day, again with no playlands. I started to loosen the DVD rules. And John got his first Happy Meal. (Granted, he had apple slices and soy milk with it.)

The Gibsons were just getting over a stomach virus, so we used the quarantine as an excuse to play lots and lots and lots of Phase 10. Oh, and to eat chocolate chip cookies. Just like the good ol' days. The only thing missing was a big tub of Tootsie Rolls. We took it pretty easy, taking the kids to a great park on Sunday afternoon and eating more cookies.

Which meant that driving home Monday was rough. We managed to save the longest drive (13.5 hours) for the very end, when we were up against a deadline to get the car back to the people who didn't fully understand why we kept asking them to be sure we had unlimited miles. The DVD rules were completely out the window -- Baby Einstein's Neighborhood Animals was on heavy rotation. This is the third time we've driven to Minnesota for Thanksgiving, and I'm fully convinced that the 3 hours from Dallas to Austin is the hardest part of the whole thing.

But we made it. We're home, and we had a great time. If you need me, I'll be doing laundry til New Year's.

Back to Normal

We're home, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about football -- a certain game, of course, that's played every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It hasn't been that much fun these last few years. But now it's back to normal. I don't want to gloat, but it feels good to know that in John's lifetime, his Ags are undefeated when playing in Austin.

With apologies to our Longhorn friends, I just have to add this one little thing -- We won! We won! We won!

Gig 'em, Ags.

Bookworm

We didn't take pictures, and there's probably no way that words can do this justice, but I have to describe what happened this evening as we were getting John ready for bed.

Every night, after John's bath, we spend time reading and singing with John. He likes to pick out his books and take time sitting with each of us while we read to him. And lately, he's also liked to delay the inevitable by climbing up on his rocking horse and smiling from ear to ear -- I guess he figures that if he's cute enough, he won't actually have to go to sleep.

But tonight, he took the cuteness up a notch. He went to his bookshelf and picked up one of his favorites -- Cowboy Bunnies. Then he climbed up on his rocking horse, opened up his book, and started reading to himself. Never mind that he was looking at it upside down, or that he was simply going through his verbal repertoire while turning the pages (Up, cup, hot, cold, up, up, down, OK). He was reading. And when he was done, he got off his horse, went over to his bookshelf, and put his book away.

It was sad and wonderful at the same time.

A Weekend with the Girls

Tommy and John got the house to themselves this weekend, and amazingly it was still standing when I came home. Football, yardwork, hanging out in t-shirts and diapers (OK, that was just John ....) Male bonding at it's finest.

And where was I during all this fun? I was in Dallas with Natalie, Tollie, and Kristin. For the record, we spent more time watching football than we did shopping. (Although we might have been better off shopping, as it turned out.) And we talked. And ate. And talked some more. It's hard being the only one outside of the metroplex, but it was great to be together to celebrate Nat's birthday, Tollie's recovery, and Kristin's big news.

We talked so much that we forgot to take a single picture. Oh well. There's always next time!

Bubbles!

 

Collector's Item?

If you haven't gotten a copy of November's Texas Monthly, you might want to pick one up.















Check out the letter from Gates to A&M here.

18 Month Stats and More

I totally forgot to pass along this riveting information last week. :-) John had his 18-month check-up, and weighed in at 22 lbs, 2 ounces -- which means that he's finally up to the 5-10th percentile! And he's getting taller, too - 31.5 inches/25th percentile. He was a trooper for his shots and flu vaccine.

Then Saturday, John got to hang out with G and Great-Grandmother Cowden while Tommy and I went to College Station to see the A&M/OU game with Dash and Shae and some friends from church. We had so much fun, and it was a gorgeous night for some football, but the loss was even more heartbreaking in person.














John's been showing off all kinds of new skills -- he's figured out how to throw a ball, how to climb up into his chair (and then on to the table), and is picking up more and more words every day. I'm pretty sure he said "Lucy" yesterday!

Most fun of all -- last night John finally got to meet his Aunt Sarah, who's in town this week for work. (He was a lot more pleasant than he looks in this picture!)

We Love You, Tollie!

Sending lots of love and prayers up to Dallas. And John sends a big hug and kiss, too! Can't wait to see you next weekend.

Our Roaming Gnome

And now what you've all been waiting for -- Halloween 2006, featuring John as the roaming gnome.

Trying to roam away



















Gotcha!



















Sleepy gnome

Dapper Dan

 

thought of some more ...

(And Tommy wanted to add some, too.)

-- How the best way to see is dimples is to watch him when he's eating one of his favorite foods. He takes a bite and then says "Mmmm!" while smiling from ear to ear

-- The way he says "OK, OK, OK ..." when he's trying to do something or get somewhere, like he's trying to convince himself or us (or both) that he has everything under control

-- The fact that he now brings us our shoes, as well as his own, to further illustrate the point that he wants to go outside. Again.

-- That he loves to touch our faces and point out our ears and eyes and noses

-- The way he kicks his mattress or the side of his crib over and over again, waiting for us to come get him. He loves to "flop" -- to lay on his back and fling the lower half of his body up and down in his bed. Speaking of flopping, if there's a pillow or pile of blankets on the floor, he's so there.

-- How he carries his own picture around

-- That we can look at him and see ourselves, and Jack, and Dash, and our fathers -- not just facial expressions, but also glimmers of those personalities. We can't wait to see more.

-------------------------

I also wanted to take this opportunity to publicly thank my husband. Last night he spent his first night alone with John while I attended the Redeemer women's retreat. They had breakfast at Kerbey Lane, a trip to the elementary school carnival and Central Market (to get me flowers!) and from what I understand, spent great deal of time outside. Thanks, honey!

18 Months

My little boy is 18 months old today. And that pretty much sums it up -- my little boy. He's not really a baby anymore, this walking, talking kid who is very certain about what he wants. So in honor of his 18 months, here are 18 little things about John that make me smile.

18. How when he wants to get up from his chair or go outside, he will more clearly enunciate "up" at an increased volume, in case you missed it the first time.

17. The way he opens his mouth wide when he tries to give Lucy one of her toys, just like we did when we were trying to get him to eat with a spoon for the first time.

16. The way he concentrates on opening up the kitchen cabinets to make a wall, lining up the edges of the doors just so -- they have to be perfectly even and touching.

15. His absolute obsession with doors. Any and all doors. Nothing on hinges is safe from this kid.

14. The way he brings me each and every acorn he finds. And we have three oak trees.

13. His fascination with the vaccuum.

12. The way he calls me when he wants up in the mornings, saying "Ma MA!" with a little accent.

11. His love for his dog and his cat, and their love for him.

10. The way he laughs when we tickle him behind his ears.

9. How he says "No" for everything -- when he wants you to have something, when he wants you to give him something, even if he's just talking to himself.

8. That the first thing he does when he gets out of bed in the morning is to grab his shoes and head for the door.

7. How, after weeks of trying to teach him to say throw his arms up when we say "Touchdown!", he'll now hear it on TV or in random conversation and immediately make the touchdown signal, grinning from ear to ear.

6. The way he carries the hymn book to us and points to the ones he wants us to sing. [Alternate -- the fact that The Black Eyed Peas song "Pump It" is his favorite song to listen to in the car.]

5. The way he snuggles with his lamb when it's time for bed.

4. How, in the midst of a tantrum or burst of tears, he can still manage to say "cookie" because he knows it makes us laugh, thereby increasing his chances of actually getting a cookie.

3. The way he drinks his milk like the guy in the Berries & Cream Dr. Pepper commercial -- doing everything else with one hand while guzzling from his sippy cup.

2. His grin when he sees his daddy come home in the evenings.

1. His hugs. He really does give the best hugs. We love you, Sir Hugs-A-Lot!

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head...

A rainy fall day -- good for our pathetic lawn, bad for little boys and dogs who both desperately want to be outside. After John brought me his shoes for the fourth time in an hour and then plaintively wailed "Up, Mama, Up" while knocking at the front door, I gave in. If he wanted to go outside, then outside into the rain we would go.

Splashing was fun for a few minutes, but then John seemed to realize that he was in fact standing in the rain. Suddenly inside didn't seem so bad after all.

 

Sweet Ride

It's in the genes. John has a passion for cars -- pointing them out and especially getting in them. He likes to go out to the Explorer with Tommy and can climb all the way up inside. But his most favorite -- and really, who could blame him? -- is the Mustang. He goes into the garage and practically hugs it while saying "Up. Car. Car. Up." until we put him in the driver's seat. We're in big trouble when he turns 16! 

Park Day with Victor

One of these days, the boys will have to acknowledge each other's existence. Right? 

Pumpkins 2006

We went to Red Barn to look at pumpkins on Sunday, and John was thoroughly unimpressed. We don't know if he was scared of the pumpkins or if he just didn't want to be there, because he kept looking warily at them and saying, "No..... no....". Every once in a while he would gingerly touch one, and then look at us like we were crazy. Then again, he didn't look all that thrilled last year, either:

Are these really our only options?

From CNN, reporting on this study.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I will point out that Tommy was quite confident as a math minor. On the other hand, I was an English major, and math made me very unhappy.

Walk This Way

We were in Houston on Saturday to join Dash and Shae for the JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes. Perfect weather made the three-mile stroll around the Dome even more enjoyable.



















We thought that John might like to walk across the finish line. We thought wrong. What John really wanted was to turn around and walk away from the finish line, inspect the traffic cones, and impede traffic -- in general, he wanted to avoid the finish line at all costs.


































































From there, John and I crashed at G and Grandpa's house while Tommy helped Dash and Shae move the last of their things into their brand spankin' new house. Congrats again, guys! And we rounded out the afternoon watching the Aggies win over Missouri. (Sorry, Rankins!)

Sunday was rainy and blah -- nothing like what we narrowly missed in Houston, but still gross. Of course, this was the day that we were having church out on the land where our new sanctuary will be built. So I listened to the sermon with one ear while watching John wallow in mud puddles and trying to keep him out of the poison ivy. He was all boy -- covered in dirt and mud and smiling from ear to ear.

This has nothing to do with the weekend or John or really anything else that's relevant, but I do have to pass along this fabulous little blog tidbit. I know, I've told most of you about it already! I've never gotten into The Bachelor [Unless you count Fox's mini-series The Littlest Groom, which Tommy refuses to let me forget that WE watched in its entirety. Oh yes -- Tommy watched it too. Ask him about it.] And I probably wouldn't have gotten into it this year either if it weren't for this. It's more entertaining than watching the show.

That's about it for now -- time to get some sleep!

Pudding Picasso

This morning we had some rainy day fun with vanilla pudding, food coloring, and a plastic shower curtain liner. (The result was more snack than art project, though.)