TWENTY-TWO

That's how many months apart Owen and Rebecca are. And that's how many months Rebecca and Baby #3 will be.

Yes, you read correctly, we're preggers! Baby #3 is due to arrive sometime around the first week of June. 

I guess 22 is our number. Apparently The Big Guy Upstairs thinks so too!

This should explain the lack of posts (and if you've been to my house or know me well: clean laundry, groceries, returned phone calls, pictures taken, to-do list items checked off...). Our family has been in definite hunker-down survival mode since the beginning...because I've been hibernating. That sounds like an exaggeration--just ask Kyle--it's not. I could sleep 16 hours a day if I had it my way...and I've managed to get close on more than couple of occasions...

Starting to feel better now that I've rounded the corner into the blessed 2nd trimester. So, there will be Christmas after all!

Shocker: I think we're going to find out the gender! It was such a thrill to wait until delivery to find out with Owen and Rebecca but I think we want to experience it the other way this time!

Okay, I think that's it for big exciting news! As usual, stay tuned...

Video Extravaganzapalooza

These are some long overdue videos from this fall.

One of Rebecca's favorite toys is Kyle's real stethoscope...sometimes she'll condescend to play with the toy version. (FYI: Kyle doesn't wear his stethoscope around his neck so she came up with this on her own). [September]

 

Owen had his first sleep-over back in October. Our friend from church and neighbor, Ben, spent the night with us. SLEEPOVER! The boys had a great time. They play really well together. The video is right before they went to sleep. A little wound up? Needless to say it took them a while to go to sleep. And in the morning they both had a BUNCH of books in their beds with them...even though the room is really really dark when the light is out and neither can reach the switch...interesting.

We have mentioned Rebecca's dancing...this video is subdued but she makes me laugh. It begins with another one of her favorite (quirky!) things to do...she likes to pull out a bunch of the poster boards we draw on and roll around in/on them. Hum. [October]

A couple of other little things:

Owen received a little food treat from a friend at school "G" on his friend's birthday. Owen was so excited about it he decided (all by himself) that we should write him a thank you note! I wrote down EXACTLY what he said and we mailed it to "G". Here is what we wrote:

Dear G, you are the best treat-maker ever. G, I love my pretzel treat. G, I love it so much – I love it and I like it. I love to eat my treat after my dinner. Thank you, your friend Owen Mezger.

*Owen has become quite fond of "reading his magazine" (National Geographic - Kids) while he takes care of business in the bathroom. We've read them so many times to him I can actually hear him "reading" outloud..."Did you know that an ermine's coat changes color in the spring when the snow melts???" "In the winter the liquid water turns into ice water and you can skate on the pond!"

Miss Rebecca has a new tooth on the bottom (as of a few weeks ago) bringing her total to 7.

*She loves using a fork, even if its not necessary for the food.

*Her new favorite past time and misdeed (other than climbing onto the desk if we forget to turn the chair over) is opening the fridge or freezer (she prefers the freezer) to sit in it/on the bottom. Why? We have no idea. But I'll make sure the next fridge we buy (we didn't buy this one) does not have handles that run all the way to the floor. Big design flaw.

*Need to get a video of her running...she's fast folks.

*Both of these kiddos have been waking up SUPER early for weeks (months?) now...Owen usually in between 5-6, and Rebecca shortly after. We've been cutting their naps short but its not seeming to make a difference. If you have any ideas, I'm willing to try just about anything at this point...

It's already December?

So behind in blogging (and the rest of life)! Is it really mid December???

Here are some photos from Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to go to my Mom's again this year - full spread, great folks, no work! What a blessing to be THANKFUL for!!!

As we did last year, we tried to get a photo for our Christmas card. I mean, we're all dressed up already and there are other people available to take the picture and jump up and down trying to get the kids to smile and look...it's the perfect opportunity!

But no luck this year. These were the best two...and they didn't make the card. It's really hard to get both of these squirmers to look at the same time, and practically impossible to couple it with a smile.

We had the treat of having Nathan Murray spend the day and night with us...he was a great addition to our crazy little crew - right in between Rebecca and Owen in age. Here he is pulling Rebecca in the wagon.

 Fearless. In a skirt.

 All 3 doing what they do. Nathan the Conductor. Owen messing with Rebecca. Rebecca holding her own.

 One of Mom's beautiful tables.

 Me and the Hostess with the Mostess.

I was asleep for pretty much everything else you see. (Turkey +Other people available to watch/play with kids = Mamma gets a nap!) Thank goodness other folks picked up the camera! 

Here is Owen having a grand ol' time on his glider bike in Mom's driveway.

 Owen with one of my Cantu cousins--Melanie.

 Dadda & Owen.

 This photo pretty much sums up the afternoon. Owen didn't take his usual nap. But sometime early evening he crashed on Bee during "leftovers". Then he was up til we left at 10ish after the Aggies kicked some T-Sipper hiney. (I said that like a real Texan who actually cares, didn't I?!)

I didn't take a picture of it, but we started a new family tradition this year for Thanksgiving (thanks to my uber-creative sister-in-law Melissa): The Thankful Turkey. It's a huge paper turkey on our kitchen wall. Each day in November up until Thanksgiving we write something we're thankful for on one of his feathers. It's like Thanksgiving Advent. It's so fun to hear what Owen came up with. Some of which we wrote down just like it came out...other things we adapted. Examples: 1) Milk and juice. Okay. 2) Tigers. How about...God's creation and animals? You get the idea.

We'll be writing about Christmas soon enough...for now know that we're enjoying the season even though we opted to go for a TINY tree (that sits way up high on a shelf) because Rebecca is such a tornado.....It just sort of seems wrong to not have a "proper" tree, but it was a judgment call that I have to say I'm pleased with this year. Merry (early) Christmas!