April Update & Happy Easter!

Time for another update!

Oh, Rebecca...what a sweet little BOOGER she is.

• New words: Wah wah (water), Dahdo, Nana, Dee (Bee), O (Owen), Didi (Baby), Ah-i (outside), Rah (rock - usually in her shoe), Nee nee (night night), Booboo, Poo (you guessed it), and her "No" is becoming much more confident which is beginning to be a problem!
• Loves to grab our hands to make them clap, and put our hands on our faces to play peekaboo. 
• She's also really into tickling us. She apparently thinks it has to be done to your waste/lower back. She comes up and barely touches you (wiggling her little fingers) and says "tittle tittle" in the squeakiest little voice you've ever heard.  She'll do it on command too, which is too much fun. 
• She has also decided that pulling us around by our fingers is the best way to get what she wants. We're trying to get her to use words, but she would prefer to come grab your arm/finger and literally drag you to _____ to get ______. It's actually pretty endearing.
• We watched our friends' 10 week old little boy for a few hours on Easter and it was a FULL TIME job keeping Rebecca off of him. Her intentions are all sweet, but she is SOO interested and wants SOO much to be helpful that it meant you had to be within arms reach of sweet David...good to know for a month from now!
• She had to get her blood drawn last week (actual needle in her arm) and just like when she got her shots the week before...no tears, no cries. She just stared at the lab tech and at her arm. The sweet tech only stuck her once but had to "fish around" a bit inside to find the vein. It was very impressive (and a little weird) that she took it so well. 

And Owen. All of a sudden he seems so BIG to us?

Saying "Gigem'".

Recent Funnies:

• Owen thinking that our church's baptism service is where "big kids" get "bath-tized". Obviously, a little more explaining was necessary. 
• Owen running into the living room (with only a shirt on) to inform us that he had made the "liiiiiiiiiitlest poop ever and it looks just like MADAGASGAR!"...Kyle confirmed that his geography couldn't have been more right!
• Rebecca and I were in the kitchen together (me cooking dinner, she trying to help, which wasn't helping) and Owen yelled from the playroom: "Are you two being kind to each other?" followed by lots of giggles. 
• Owen yelling to Rebecca to "Venga aqui Rebetta"!
• Kyle explained that something Owen didn't like was "the deal" (meaning non-negotiable) to which Owen replied "Well, now its' my deal and I CHANGE IT!". whoa. 
• Owen taking a nap on his floor (with his blanket and pillows) and after we woke him up totally denying it - "actually, I didn't". 
• Owen loves to use the words "actually" and "even". He also worked in "ages" as in "I've had that dump truck for ages" the other day.
• FYI: The room sharing continues to go well. They still keep each other up a little (mostly Rebecca keeping Owen up) at first, but no one is waking up in the middle of the night or anything like that. It appears that Owen has finally learned that to help her get quiet its best if he refrains from singing the "Bob the Builder" theme song to her as a lullaby, or pretending to sleep under her crib. She still feigns sleep when we put her down and we hear the "dance party" begin when we close the door...but it seems to be lasting less and less time.  
• Oh, and update on his head booboo - staples are out (totally painless and quick!) and all is healing nicely!

And HAPPY EASTER!

We had a very very laid back Easter this year (so glad Kyle wasn't on a trip)! We went to church and grabbed a quick lunch at Thundercloud (with Bee's help). Took naps and then had a yummy homemade dinner with Nana that evening. That's where these pictures were taken. Our egg hunt was honestly pretty pitiful, but the I don't think they're old enough to know it yet!

(See the stinker-ness in her face? I think she wanted something he had.)

Two Big Events

We always thought Cousin Bailey or even Little Sis Rebecca would be the first to get stitches or a cast. But parenthood is filled with surprises, right? I'll let Owen tell you what happened yesterday around lunchtime...

 

(He didn't really get hurt by the swing, but he slipped underneath it and bonked his head against the edge of the Muke's stone patio.) He was very brave about the whole thing. The worst part of it was irritating the wound (both what Kyle did at Luke and Mel's right after it happened, and what the nurse at Urgent Care did). FYI: Staples was definitely the way to go. No stingy lidocaine shot and trying to sit still for stitches...just two quick pinches and done.

The video is pretty dark, so here is a still shot of his first childhood battle scar.

Owen learned all about blood and bone and how God made our bodies to heal themselves, and sometimes doctors and nurses get to help. A very hands-on lesson he probably won't soon forget. 

And I learned to give a little more explanation to Kyle over the phone instead of "Come to Luke and Mel's immediately" - hang up. My excuse was that I had a bleeding, crying, shaking toddler in my arms...but I should have realized that he would think the worse, especially with a very prego wife. Next time I'll do better. :)

Okay, and just because we like to cram as much excitement into one day as possible...the kids had their first night sleeping in the same room last night! (Honestly, yesterday was as good as any other day - and maybe better because we knew Owen at least would be extra sleepy - having skipped his nap in exchange for a trip to Urgent Care.)

(Sorry the video is so dark again - tips anyone?) You can just barely make out that she's jumping in bed like a monkey on a caffeine high. (Oh, Kyle "apologizes" for calling them his siblings.)

 

We knew we wanted to give them some time in the same room before Baby #3 gets here...so hopefully the novelty of a roommate will wear off a little and it won't take over an hour to fall asleep! 

At one point Owen came to tell me (again) that Rebecca was keeping him awake (not that him running around the room had anything to do with it) and I learned that he was trying to sleep under her crib - blanket, pillow and all. We had a good talk about staying in his bed. We also defined the word "ignore" for him - he needed to just pretend she wasn't there. Yea right!

All in all I'd call it a success though. They finally went to sleep (Owen first). No one woke up in the middle of the night and it was really sweet to hear them wake up together this morning. And so begins a new chapter!

Life Right Now

Bee and JoJo have been in China (yes, China) for about two weeks now. I knew we depended on them a lot but its a very clear reminder of just how much when they are gone! (Poor Nana has been a trooper picking up the slack - she's probably going to need a vacation when they get back in about ten days!) I almost emailed her on 4/1 to tell her Baby #3 had made her arrival, but I thought that would be toooooo cruel, even for a Mom that loves her a good April Fool's joke. Here we all are at their "Hasta La Vista" dinner at Maudie's a few days before they left. Apparently they didn't think they could get a good margarita in China - probably good thinking. (Kyle is taking the picture.)

Okay...prepare yourself for this. Actually, no. I don't think you can prepare yourself for this. 

.....

These are sweet Rebecca's feet covered in poop. Her poop.

She has been put down for her nap, pooped, decided to dig around for it and "make art" in her crib. This has happened before. But usually we hear her noise level increase (too much fun!) and we go in to find her "brown-handed" so-to-speak. This time, we didn't hear anything and she just went to sleep. You can't see the poop on her hands, in her hair, or on the inside rails of her crib, but know for sure that it is most certainly there.

More Rebecca Stories

• She's giving lots of kisses these days. More than the action - it's important they include a very clear "MMMMMMMah" sound. 
• A few new words (at least, we can understand them): Bible (bahbo), more (moh), book (booh)
• Has been caught on two occasions using her shopping cart as a step-stool to climb onto the bathroom counter, sit with her feet in the sink (depressing the plug so it doesn't drain), turning on the water and filling up the sink to the point of major overflow...She just leaves the water running and splashes and has a grand ol' time. 
• So, yesterday we had her 18 month check-up, only about 6 weeks late. The doctor (kindly) informed me that I had forgotten about her 15 month check-up. Oh goodness - poor 2nd child. What neglect with baby #3 have to put up with? So, she had two shots and a finger prick. And let me tell you - not a tear, not a scream, nothing. Except her "stink-eye" face. She furrows that little brow and glares as if to say, "I'll remember this nurse...and I know where you live." 
• Her stats: 27.5 lbs, 33.25 in tall (not sure the percentages they gave me apply since she was 18 months old).

Owen Time

So, this is about all the home-school I've got in me. But I'm pretty proud of it. This is "Owen's Calendar". He's been obsessed with my white board (calendar, to-do-list) for a while. And anytime he knows something fun is coming up (e.g. a Birthday part in 3 days) he wants me to draw him a calendar. So, I made some magnets and here we are. He's learning which days are which by their color. And each week we write what's going on...this week was Luke's birthday on Monday, School on Tuesday and Thursday and a birthday party with Dahdo and Pam on Saturday. (Eventually I'd like to find some stickers that can more visually represent things we have going on a lot, like school days - I'll just put them on magnets too.) We also have a word of the week (something character-building), a Spanish word of the week, a letter of the week (just to practice finding it and talking about the sound it makes, etc.) and a number of the week (we try to count things out in increments of the #). So, far this is about all we can handle keeping up with, but its also been very manageable. He's really enjoying it. We just put it up Monday morning and talk about it throughout the week. Pretty unstructured but still seems to be doing the trick!

The other day when he was being incredibly slow to obey getting into his car seat he told me I was being "unpatient" with him. Oh boy. Try explaining why its right for a parent to be impatient with disobedience!

S

• Owen let Owen take a couple of books (but no toys) to bed at naptime and at bedtime. He used to complain that "I don't know the word" - meaning he couldn't read them. But he's recently gotten over it, especially with ones we've read a lot. The other night he probably spent 30 minutes "reading" The Monster at the End of This Book to himself. HYS-TER-I-CAL. 
• Owen overheard Kyle and I having a conversation about financial stewardship and generosity. He asked what we were talking about and I told him we were talking about giving money away to people who need it. His immediate response was, "Oh, you mean to people like Phil?" (If you know Phil Murray, you'll realize just how funny this is.)

Little Baby Update

 

So, we're cruising along at 31+ weeks preggo. And to say that I'm ready to meet this little girl would be the understatement of the year! I'm so thankful to not be pregnant in the dead of summer...but I'm also really ready to "get 'er done" as they say. I waddle worse than most penguins. I think I sleep worse than when we have a newborn in the house. We are going to get a crib put together this weekend...then we'll embark on seeing how well Rebecca and Owen sleep in the same room together. We definitely have some projects to complete around the house before the baby, and we, of course, have to agree on a name...

Oh, and in since I know its been on everyone's mind, here's a list of my most-ferocious cravings this go-around:

-oreos and very very cold milk

-Pops (the cereal)

-Wendy's spicy chicken sandwhich

-gummy bears

-cucumbers and tomatoes 

It definitely won't be hard to start eating more healthily once the baby comes...it can only go uphill from here.

Other Big News (big for us anyways)...

• Our backyard is now fenced. Thank you to the best landlords ever ever ever!!!
• We have several weeks under our belt with no cable. Thanks to my book club, and Backyardigans and Bob the Builder on Netflix, no one has run away or dropped dead yet.     :)

HHCS at The Ranch

Kyle was away most of last week - his annual guys' backpacking trip - this time to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. It's on his (massively long) to-do list to cull his photos and once that's done I'll either post some or (gasp!) maybe I can get him to do a post! Anyways, when he got back we decided to get out of town to the Llano Ranch just to spend some family time together (and give me a little break). We were joined by the Tull Family of LLYC and HCCS fame. Four adults, five kids, and two on the way, it was a crazy, yet somehow relaxing weekend!

Owen and Rebecca pretending to go night-night in one of the upper bunk beds.

The dads were great about giving these pregnant (aka tired and cranky) moms a break. They loaded up all five kids in the jeep (several times) for an adventure. Kyle drove, Rebecca had to be restrained in her car seat and Trey wrangled the eldest 4 in the back.

She doesn't look like it here, but we learned that Little Miss LOVES the jeep. She would go missing periodically throughout the weekend and we'd inevitably find her on the front porch trying to climb up onto the jeep where her car seat was. Ahhh...to feel the wind in your curls!

Dark photo - but Owen wanted a picture of himself with whatever this was all over his face.

Claire pretending to drive the four-wheelin' golf cart.

Ellie - the eldest - was the ring-leader of all sorts of wonderfully imaginative games surrounding the parked ATV and golf cart...I believe they took a limo to New York and went on a boat ride in the jungle, and went golfing (duh), and drove on the moon in a moon-buggy. (I know what you're thinking - but rest assured neither vehicle can be operated without a key...we checked.)

Two+ year old Luke (who we all want to call Blake, as in Mezger, because its just hard to call a kid Luke when we're used to that being Uncle Luke). Our little rocket launcher continues to be an outdoor favorite...these kids learned how to take advantage of the wind direction and shoot these things clear over the ranch house. We only lost a few on top in the process but they eventually all blew down.

 

What's the Ranch without watermelon? And what's watermelon without dirt and grass?

Great weekend with great friends. Even the sleeping arrangements worked out well. It'll be interesting to see what adding two more wee-ones to the pack does to this gathering in the future...only time will tell.

Oh my goodness...how could I forget! A couple of *major* highlights from the weekend:

• Owen getting stung by a scorpion in his bed when we were reading books...it hurt...a lot...but after a little Bob the Builder and a couple of oreos he recovered nicely. Kyle killed it with a rolled-up magazine and showed it to Owen. At first I wasn't sure about this, but it was a good call - he touched it (I know, gross!) and they talked about it - and he was able to go back to sleep in that same bed. He did ask why God made scorpions if they're not nice. And asked why they would sting people who are nice. Good questions little boy! He has had a lot of fun telling pretty much everyone we have seen since about his scorpion bite. Don't ask unless you want the long version.

• In a jeep ride the first night with just our family Kyle honked at a cow and pretty much caused a stampeded. We can only infer that Uncle Frank honks to let the cows know he's going to put some food out. We were completely surrounded. They were running. We were speeding up. They were running faster. They were in front of us, behind us, next to us. Kyle clipped a couple of their heels. They were doing this crazy moo/growl. Kyle and I were laughing really hard but part of that was us trying to cover up that we were honestly a little scared (okay, at least I was). Good times!

Owen, the Builder

Owen LOVES all things construction. What a perk to have an uncle who is a builder, and a Nana who is having a major remodel done to her new house. (Sorry for the poor quality of the photos - all I had with me was my phone.)

These are pictures today from Owen's first day of his internship with Mezger Homes. Call it nepotism, or maybe the demo guy just saw raw talent in Owen that needed to be nurtured...either way, Owen went straight to driving the little digger / bobcat.

What you can't tell from the photos is that they drove straight through the house (see video at end)...

...picked up demo junk in the back...

  ...drove it back through the house...

 ...and dumped it in the dumper (background).

 Employee of the Month material - for sure!

Can We Demo It??? Yes, We Can!!!

Fun with a Box

Read a blog post recently about the 5 best toys of all time...We had a little fun with #2. The holes Kyle cut started out as peep-hole windows. Then they needed to be big enough to put a ball through. Then they needed to be big enough to put their heads through. Eventually, they were big enough for their whole bodies to fit through...

She smiles. (He's saying cheese.)

 He smiles. (She's saying ???)

 No! This is MY hole.

 The faces of Rebecca...

 Flying like an airplane.

Owen showing us his muscles. Apparently it requires using his "angry face". 

 And his Heisman pose - he says "Can't take MY ball!" - and he means it.

Totally unrelated...we went with the Murrays to the Austin Rodeo on Saturday. Didn't actually catch any rodeo shows, but had fun checking out all the farm animals, looking at the rides (Owen had no interest in going on any of them - no real surprise), and eating sure-to-give-you-a-heart-attack-food. Here is the only pic I managed to capture...they're posing with the "oreo cow" (aka belted galloway) - my favorite of all farm animals.

One update and one story:

Update - Owen can now totally get himself dressed! It is SUCH a big deal! He can take everything off and put everything on! He needs encouragement along the way to not get distracted and just stop halfway through the job (e.g. shirt and flip flops, no underwear or shorts), but he CAN DO IT! It started with what I called an "Owen Challenge" but that resulted in him running around the house hyperventilating while he tried to get himself dressed, like he as in a race. Now when I tell him to get dressed, he says, okay, but I'm not doing a challenge, I'm just getting dressed...

FYI: this means that one of my two BIG GOALS before the baby has been met...now if I can just get his thumbs to be strong enough so he can buckle himself in (and get himself out) of his car seat we'll be all set...know any tricks?

Story - this really deserves a post to itself, but I've got folding waiting for me...

We were driving home north on Mopac and drove past (for about the 1 billionth time) the Austin cemetary at 2222. Owen noticed the grave markers for the first time and asked what was all over that park? Oh boy. I explained that that park is called a cemetery and and when people die that's where we bury their bodies, and the white things are markers/signs with their names on them. I quickly added that if we love Jesus, we go to heaven when we die and we get a new body. 

In rapid fire, here were his questions/comments:

1) I DON'T WANT a NEW BODY!

2) Do they just take my LEGS?  (touching legs) Will I be able to walk? But I want to be able to WALK!!!

3) Do they just take my HEAD? (touching head)

4) Do they just take my TUMMY? (touching tummy)

5) How do they get my body OFF??? (imagining field dressing a deer?)

Oh boy...why am I in the car by myself with him??? Where is Kyle? Anybody, anybody??? Where is the Mopac Train when I need it???

I think I reassured him that although it's a MYSTERY (thanks to Backyardigans, he had recently learned this word), it's not something we have to be afraid of. We don't know exactly how it works but we know that heaven will be awesome and that getting a new body will be awesome. Because God is AWESOME. 

Whew. I think this is what parents of older children mean when they tell me it gets easier AND harder.

Light the Streets...

Africa New Life is an AMAZING organization doing EXCEPTIONAL work in Rwanda. Sponsoring a child is a GREAT way to get involved, but there are other special projects too! Don't watch this video unless you want your heart (and the lives of children) to be changed...


Light the Streets from Africa New Life Ministries on Vimeo.

Check out the greeting cards for sale and this incredibly moving photo story of what life is like for these street children in Rwanda with the help of Africa New Life. A-MAZING.