The Little Guy....

Official introductions seem overdue, but I'm pretty sure that Ashley Waggs is the only person who reads this thing anymore (maybe because I only post 4 times a year), and she's already met him. But for the other people who happen to have stumbled across this blog, please meet Shep Coley (aka "Baby Blue"). 

I am 20 weeks prego. Yay, for the half-way point! And we were delighted to find out that Baby Blue is a boy. We may have willed that gender a little by calling him "he" and "Baby Blue" all the time.  And Emory was not surprised at all considering she has said he was a boy from the beginning. Her first response to learning of the pregnancy was, "Ohhhhh, I hope it's a brudder." 

Facts about Shep: 

1) He is flexible. Those are his toes above the top of his head.

2) He has boy parts. We got a great picture of them for Brent to reference when he is feeling skeptical. This is just the 4D face picture. We don't need to totally expose him yet. :) 

3) He has a chance of being a UT quarterback, because his name fits the profile: Major Applewhite, Colt McCoy, Shep Coley. 

We had blueberry pie on Thanksgiving in honor of the news. 

Bunnies and Chickens and Stepsisters....

Aside from Brent's appendicitis and the preschool monthly colds we have had a great fall. Below are some recent pictures. 

Last night Emory and I went to a living Bethlehem. There was an ancient market with tons of fun crafts and food samples from the days of yore...that's the phrase, right? Who knew how yummy dates were? 

There was a petting zoo. What happens when you combine 30 bunnies, chickens, ducks, lambs, donkeys, and a pig and cow with 50 children under the age of 7 in a very, very small pin???? Well, hopefully not rabies, but certainly lots of chaos. Emory was pretty brave. I have NO desire to hold a chicken, but she was pretty into them. Lucky for the ducks that they can outrun her.  

The Cinderella Family. No, I am NOT Aunt Jemima, despite several of the party guests' confusion. The Ugly Stepsisters do have rather large backsides.   

Season of Orange

Kim and Don, I post this picture as an idea for Hunter's free time. All goats should have a playground in the trees. 

Papa, someone else likes tractors, too!

Toddler Paradise

The ultimate Waggener Hosts never disappoint.....

Hola Pillows

It's been too much of a fun summer to blog. We have had several fun Texas weekends in the Hill Country and the beach. The picture below is from the Petru's lakehouse on Lake Conroe. Emory did NOT want to pull away from the boat dock, but was glad she did. She had a great time and didn't want to get off the wave runner by the time we were done. 

Hook 'Em! 

First day of preschool! It really is hard to believe we're already here, but she's social butterfly and had a GREAT time today. When I put her in the car afterwards there was a barage of comments like, "I did art." "I learned HOLA!" What does that mean? "I don't know....I mostly played with Maggie." "I like PE" (the only time in her life she might say that...) Suffice it to say, she likes school.

It was also big girl bed time. About a month ago while jumping in the crib, Emory did a flying squirll out of the crib and landed belly flop style. Luckily, the room has plush carpet. I don't know if a daybed was the most economical way to go. There are so many pillows involved (not all pictured), but it worked out. At first she said, "That's not a bed, it's a couch." But she's thankful for it and happy that her landing won't be too far if she jumps out. 

Emory at 2 and a few months....

Acting Lessons: 

Taunting: 

Kisses: 

Afraid!:

Saaaaadddd:

Swingin' with Buddy and Lincoln

Family Time

South Congress Hang Out

Music provided by Tony

Our good buddy, Shyla

Adventure Day: Downtown on a train

Road trip

Last month we drove to south Georgia for Mother's Day and Hunter's graduation from high school. We were a little worried about how Emory would do, but our fears were quickly relieved with the first Elmo movie. In the end, the drive was a dream come true for all of us, especially Emory. Daddy, Mommy, and Elmo all in a tight space for as many movies as the drive allowed was pretty great in her eyes. 

This is Emory's first horse ride on Romeo. She did great. "Mommy, WHAT are we doing? What are WE doing?"

You can't be too safe right? She wants all the floats. :)

Making friends with a turtle.

The end of the 17 hour drive. It showed. :) The next day she said, "Mommy, that trip made me tired."

Through psychology we know that children process their experiences through play. As soon as we got home from the drive Emory set up the seats, put her "friends" in the chairs, and said, "They are going on a big trip." 

Anyone who says the second half of your life is for slowing down needs to travel with my Dad.

Visitors

When we first moved into this rental and had to battle cockroaches I was a little nervous about the bug issue and wondered if it was worth it to live right by the creek.

I am now officially disturbed by the creek. Earlier this afternoon, I looked outside just in time to catch a glimpse of a dog-like creature on the other side of our back fence. At first I was worried that the poor, lost dog outside needed help or water. It's hot. Luckily, I didn't bring Emory to go check on it- nor did I check on it at all. I realized it was not a dog. It looked a little fox like, but too big. It was a coyote. But it seemed to disappear into the woods.

Then, a few hours later, the dogs next door were barking like crazy. I thought I should check on the noise and see if the coyote had returned and low and behold there was a VERY long snake trying to go swimming in Emory's little pool. (See pic below). After a second of internet research I confirmed that it was a water moccasin. Grrrrreeeeaaaat. It was about 5 feet long and about 5 feet from the back door. 

Okay, what to do? What to do? Bang on the door and tell Mr. Moccasin the creek is just 30 yard away. My banging seemed to only make him feel the need to hurry closer to the pool, and to stick his little tongue out at me.

What is it about the instinctive need to call my husband and get him to FIX IT despite the fact that he is 7 miles away and on the 20th floor of a building and busy?????? He advised me to get a shovel or pull the hose around the area where the snake was and spray it. Both sounded like BAD ideas. All things that included me sharing the backyard with a snake sounded like WRONG. So I threw everything within reach in short spurts while I quickly opened and shut the door and held the phone: a pink Minnie Mouse cup, two teething rings, a small, soft basketball, but I think it was the plastic piggy bank that did the trick. I don't know how the piggy survived. The snake moved along to our flower bed. Then I got really brave and stepped outside to throw a large plastic ball, hit the intended target (it took a big ball to do that) and the snake finally slithered under the fence....I think. I'm not going to check. Not getting a shovel. And probably not going in the backyard for a month. The coyote and the water moccasin can share it.

Easter pictures

We had lots of family over for an Easter egg hunt this year. It was a blast and here are a few pictures from the scene. 

Jack, Uncle Ryder, and Aunt Kitty!!!

Haven and Emory....so cute to see them chillin' in the Jeep now. Will be TERRIFYING in about 14 years.

I think "Buddy" must have forgotten about the ears because he had them on for about 4 hours.

There is something precious about a little boy wearing a basket. Maybe it's just knowing that he won't be willing to do that for very long so we need to enjoy it while we can.

Thankfulness

Have I gone on and on enough about how happy I am to be in Austin??? I'll speak for myself because Emory is happy anywhere, and decisions about feelings take Brent much longer. But I am elated. For one, the people are so nice. Even the guy that inspects your car for the sticker couldn't be friendlier. Texans really seem to think that other people are good (despite the fact that all of the Dateline psycho wife killer reports seem to come from Texas). People here want to know how your day is going, and they want to talk about it for at least 5 minutes. Not to say that North Carolina, New York, or Colorado weren't nice, they just weren't as excited to interact.

Of course, this characterization of Texans is thrown out the window when you're on a highway. The sweet, mini-van mom next door may throw the finger out the window on Mopac if you change lanes before she's had a chance to zoom around you. Texans seem to have two distinct personalities: Friendly Conversationalist and ANGRY, Narcissistic Driver. I'm sure my crazy driver personality will return soon out of sheer necessity.


Running on Easter Sunday

Hiking (mostly with eyes open)

Patioing

I'm reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp with a neighborhood book group, and that has encouraged me to be thankful for all the blessings God has given me. Austin seems to make that easy as Emory and I go for a hike, play with new friends, get a glimpse of the rolling green hills, and have great Mexican food on a patio with other mommies while I sip on a yummy margarita on a Thursday at noon (that's an exception to my usual stay-at-home-mom drinking policy, but exceptions are so fun).

Bluebonnet time

It's wonderful to be in Texas for bluebonnet season. Some of my favorite memories are of my mom taking me to get my pictures in the fields of bluebonnets. I've learned that with a toddler the side of a highway may not be ideal for scenic pictures.

We went with some friends to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for some guaranteed flowers and were not disappointed.

Emory's "CHEEEEESE" face.