Birthday Pictures

Cole and Emma Luke and Kellen playing with the dollhouse (?)
Josh spent some time refreshing his skills with the newest cousin.
Happy Birthday Bonnie!
Bonnie has been asking for underwear and so I bought her some for her birthday.

4 out of 28 Ain't Bad

Sorry to those of you on the edge of your seats waiting for pictures of Bonnie's birthday party. I'm on Josh's computer; maybe I'll post them tomorrow if I'm not too busy throwing up. 

But on to the title. Since I've been under the weather I've been catching up on some reading, and the January issue of Smithsonian magazine has a list called "28 Places to See Before You Die." I'd love to go to all the places, but I've actually been to 4. I thought that was pretty good. Here are the ones I've made it to.

1. Mesa Verde  

2. Serengeti 

3. The Louvre

4. Grand Canyon - been there twice

So, Antarctica and Great Wall of China, here I come - well, maybe in a few years when I don't need a stroller to go there. Of course, by the time I make it to some of these places I might be the one riding in the stroller.

Better

I'm not at 100% today but I'm getting there. I took Bonnie to get her picture taken this morning while Dad stayed home with Kellen and cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed. Yes, I'm still spoiled, even 29 years later. Sweet Bonnie is 2 today. I'll write more about that later, but can I just document the conversation I had with the photographer?

Photographer: Now, how old is she? 2?

Me: Yes, 2 today.

Photographer: Wow, not all 2-year-olds act like that. She was great.

Me: Yes, I know. I have a 3-year-old boy and his 2-year-old pictures didn't go quite as smoothly. (much sarcasm)

Sweet, sweet girl.

Livin' la Vida Loca

I'll make this long story short. (Are y'all tired of me whining yet?)

1) The good news: My nausea has gone WAY down. That's awesome.

2) The bad news: I have some nasty virus (flu-like) that has left me even more useless than usual the past 2 days.

So, Josh stayed home today to mind the children (He was up at school at 3AM getting his sub stuff ready. Now that's love.)

My dad was planning on coming on Saturday but I called and asked him to come and help out tomorrow. He should be here in a few hours.

OK, that's the scoop. Hopefully my next blog entry will be about how I'm feeling ALL BETTER.

An Update

Some have asked about Josh. He had a CT scan that didn't show kidney stones. The doctor guessed a muscle strain, but there's really no way to tell. He was hurting pretty bad yesterday (had to take Vicodin to go to church), but he seems to be feeling a lot better today. He had the day off (except for basketball practice, of course) and took Kellen to get his hair cut and then went to the grocery store for me, which brings me to my next little update...

I've been feeling bad. Like, way bad. Like, I have the flu bad, but I don't have the flu. In fact, several people who didn't know we're expecting have come up to me and asked if everything was OK. I thought I was putting on a pretty good face.=) Well, I got some lab work back and my thyroid hormone was a lot lower than normal. So, the doctor's office called today and they'll be doing some more lab work at my next OB appointment, which is a couple of weeks away. So, we're in survival mode at the house. I'm not used to having zero energy so I've made priorities, like reading to the kids and keeping the laundry and the dishes done. That doesn't mean the laundry and the dishes are always done. =) Dusting is not a priority. Josh has to remind me to give myself a (mental) break for not getting everything done that I'm used to being able to do. I was glad he was home today to go to the grocery store and cook supper.

Also, our little Bonnie will be 2 on Friday. Can you believe it's already here? We'll be having a "small" party with some of our family. That's what's going on here.

Time to...

I thought I'd let all you bloggy friends know that we are now a family of 5 and will be meeting our newest member sometime around August 12! We are really excited because we know what's coming, and a little scared because...we know what's coming. Seriously, though, I feel so blessed to be carrying another little one and can't wait to feel those little feet just kicking away. Questions? I'll try to answer.

Q: How are you feeling, Erin?

A: Um, not as crummy as I have been. I'm about 10.5 weeks now and some nights I'm actually able to make dinner.

Q: Where will everyone sleep?

A: I dunno.

Q: Where will everyone ride?

A: I dunno. Technically, the Camry seats 5. And it's paid for, so probably scrunched in the Camry.

Q: (This is actually the first question my mom and sister asked.) Will you be finding out the gender?

A: Well, we've done it both ways so far, and it was just as fun both times, so I think we will be finding out the gender, probably some time in early April.

OK, any more questions can be directed at me, but I may or may not answer.

Oh, and keep Josh in your prayers. He's at the doctor this morning with suspected kidney stones. Yuck.

(Get it? Spill the beans?)

Thankfully, I was wrong.

I paid $7.50 for 5 hand sanitizers at Walgreens, and they will be adding $10 (plus 10% of that - I guess that would be $11) to my gift card. All is right with the world again.

8 Random Things About my Life...by Kellen

Hey guys! I was tagged by my friend Cal (of Los Livingstons) and so here we go...I'm really random so this shouldn't be too hard.

1. My newest thing to say is "I got to tell ya!" Mom's not sure what I'm going to tell, as that is as far as it goes.

2. I stopped taking naps when I was 23 months old. This is still the one defining moment in my Mom's life.

3. I like most food, except spaghetti, which is ironic because spaghetti is pretty much the only normal dinner-type food that Bonnie does like. Or maybe it's just part of our evil plan...

4. I love Sea World!

5. Animals are the coolest, at least from afar. I'm not a fan of dogs, etc. up close.

6. I love to use the bathroom and then yell "MOM (or DAD), COME WIPE MY BOTTOM PLEASE!" as loud as I possibly can throughout the house. I won't wipe my own bottom. That's gross. Mom says this will change soon.

7. I can name all the major dinosaurs, but don't worry, the ones we have at home are pretend. I have to remind my mom of this because she gets scared of the T. Rex's teeth. Oh, and Bonnie is NOT allowed to play with my dinosaurs. She needs to play with girl stuff, whatever that is. Dinosaurs are for boys.

8. I like to pick out my own clothes and be in control of when and where I get dressed, but after I had to stay home from Bible Hour one Sunday night because I wouldn't put my shoes on I got a little more flexible about what I'll wear. I put my shoes on when it's time to go now.

Oh, I tag whoever's Mom wants to write a post.

Just a Quick Update

There's not a lot going on here. Well, there is a lot going on but it's pretty much basketball, basketball, basketball. We had a busy week last week. The JV boys came over on Monday night after practice to watch the NCAA football nat. championship. They also played the Wii. Lesson learned: make more brownies. Just buy all the boxes at Kroger and maybe that'll be enough. Tuesday night I took the kids to the varsity game against Bryan. They played over at A&M (lost). That pretty much wore me and the kids out for the rest of the week after not getting to bed till 11 on Tuesday (the kids) and so we stayed in Wed., Thurs., and Fri. nights. Josh did get a win Friday so that was good.

Oh, do you know how I know my husband loves me? He took Kellen to the Aggie basketball game Saturday afternoon and up to school with him to work this afternoon. TWO AFTERNOONS of quietness!!!!

Bonnie's Big Girl Bed is in her room set up. We went ahead and bought the mattress with Christmas money (because oh, how that Christmas money can flow through our fingers if we're not careful). It's a queen sized bed which will also be our guest bed. She's still in her crib for now. She does great in there and I'm not ready to boot her out for aesthetic purposes (as I've told a couple of people, her room does look a little like a really cute orphanage right now).

Other than that, I realized I really needed to get a life when I found myself bummed that there are no Free After Rebate items in the Walgreens EasySaver catalog this month (at least I think; I've only looked online). Seriously, Erin?

Close to Home

For those of you who are wondering about the status of the AFCers in Kenya, Josh emailed me this article this morning:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/010308dnmetkenyamission.2a03fea.html

I know that these students and their families need our prayers right now.

A New Cousin!

Maeghan Faith Reyna
Born 12/31/07 6:33AM
5 lb. 14 oz.
19 in. long
Congrats to Anthony and Mindee!