New Arrival

The baby arrived this morning at 11:43 a.m. and weighed 7 lbs
9 oz. That is 5 oz heavier than Karl and exactly what Henry weighed. Karin actually started labor last night, so they didn't really have to do much to induce her when she arrived this morning at the hospital. Karl had a brief visit with baby brother; he has no idea that his world is about to change! Karin and the baby are doing fine. This is your last chance to contribute to naming the baby, so post your favorite boy name and I will pass it along!

Tomorrow is Baby Day!

Tomorrow my brother's wife will be induced at 6 a.m. We are so excited. She isn't due until January, but they will get a major tax incentive if he is born before January 1, so the doctor decided to schedule her for tomorrow. Can't wait to post pictures of the little guy and hopefully find out his name.

In Henry news, Henry can spell his name all by himself with no help. He can't write it, but he can type it or say the letters without any prompting or cues.

Merry Christmas to All

"Yippee, it's Christmas!"

Henry and Karl had a big day. Henry got so caught up in the toy he had just opened that it took forever to get him to open everything. We had to open in two shifts. He loved all the gifts he got and played with everything equal opportunity. He got Elmo's Pizza Kitchen, an easel for art, a "computer," books and games, and an AquaDoodle. Henry's toy computer has a typing option where he types letters and a voice says them. It has a real screen. Henry is very into typing right now. It is one of his favorite pastimes. He knows and can identify all his capital letters now. He has been able to do that for quite some time. We are very proud of him because his language skills are exploding now. Henry is in speech therapy and has made great progress lately. His pronuncuation is still off, but the other day after Henry's bath I was saying "I need to dry you" and Henry said "Dry me." I thought the use of the pronoun me was a big deal because he didn't just repeat what I said. Pronouns are a big deal to moms. All tiny milestones are.

Back to Christmas, we had lots of fun just hanging out with family and getting fat. There were sixteen people at my parents' house for Christmas dinner. It was a big production and I know we are all worn out, but it was a group effort and it was worth it!

Merry Christmas to All!

Auntie Ash

Aunt Ashley came to visit a few weeks ago. She's not really Henry's aunt, but still insists on being called aunt instead of cousin. Aunt Ashley sounds better anyway, and I think it's cute. Here's a pic from Janice's house of my mom, Ashley, Henry, and me. Henry raided Janice's leftover Halloween candy bowl and has a Tootsie Pop in the picture; he also has his eye on his next piece.

The other night I was tucking Henry into bed. He is really into Winnie the Pooh books now and that's all he wants me to read. After we finished the book I whispered, "Night night Henry." Henry replied in a whisper, "Play Mama."

Chili Dog

Henry just sprinkled chili powder all over our white dog, Zetta. I wish I had thought to take a picture. If I hadn't been so mad at Henry's naughtiness, I would have laughed at the sight of Zetta with orange seasoning on her head and in a perfect stripe down her back.

Only 10 more days until Twilight the movie is released!

Precious Little Rat

Henry had fun at Missy's Halloween party--he ate a cupcake,
a bag of Cheetos, a bag of Doritos, a Hershey's bar,
and drank a Koolaid!

He inspected a pumpkin......

... and a spider...

... and he watched a magic show with Jack the Magician.
Isn't he the cutest little rat you've ever seen!

Sandy McSand

Last weekend we decided to fill Henry's sandbox, which we had previously been using as a baby pool, with sand. He absolutely loves it, and that works out well because it's too cold to swim now anyhow. We also got some good news about Henry this week. For those of you who are unaware, Henry has a life-threatening peanut allergy. He has blood work done every 6 months to see if his allergies (he is allergic to all beans/peas too) have improved. This week we found out that he is less allergic to peanuts--he is a 3 out of 4 instead of 4 out of 4 like he was before. All of his food allergies have gotten better, so we are really relieved. He still can't have peanuts, but I think he at least has a chance to outgrow this! They told us at first that it was a 25% chance, but maybe this is a sign that Henry actually is part of that 25%!

Thoughts on the game: Seeing Houston Nutt on the sidelines for Ole Miss was about like I would imagine someone would feel running into their ex-husband out with his new wife for the first time. It was bitter sweet. I was really hoping that he wouldn't rub it in by pumping his fist after the win, but I also felt a little sorry for him while all the booing was going on. The Hogs have had two heartbreaking games in a row, so maybe we are due for an unexpected victory. Watch out Gus!

That was the best game

popcorn that I have had all season. It was warm, perfectly seasoned, and with just the right amount of crunchiness. At the previous two games the popcorn has been a real disappointment--way too salty. Below are a few photos I took on Saturday at the Alabama game. The first one is pregame and the second is during the game.

Karl was one of the few fans that stayed until the end of the game.

I hope...

the hole in the crotch of the pants I have on today was not there on Thursday when I wore them to work.

Happy Birthday Chad!

The Razorbacks just barely pulled out a victory for Chad's birthday. Happy Birthday Chad! I love you. (Sorry you had to endure such a boring first half on your special day.)

Five? Twenty-five?

What will we do without five and twenty-five? Maybe some new stars will emerge. As you can see, Henry is ready for Western Illinois today. (Actually, he will not be attending the festivities, as he will be spending the evening with Mormor.) I'm pretty excited to see what will happen tonight. Will Patrino lead the team through the "A"? Will the team sing the fight song to the student section (assuming we win)? What will the first offensive play be? Will a new tradition emerge under the Patrino regime? Guess we will find out at six!

Gearing Up for the Convention

Joe Biden! Obama could not have made a better selection. I was supporting Biden to win the nomination for President, but I guess VP will have to do. I attended two Democratic Conventions: Chicago in 1996 and Los Angeles in 2000. In L.A. the Arkansas delegation shared a hotel with the Delaware delegation, so the two groups mingled quite a bit socially. I remember there was a little "mini-convention" at the hotel in one of the conference rooms with just Arkansas and Delaware, where important figures from both states spoke to the two delegations. There weren't many people there, maybe 30-50 in the room. Joe Biden was one of the speakers. I hadn't really known of him until that point, but I remember thinking to myself, "This guy will be President some day." I love election season and I will be glued to both conventions starting with the DNC on Monday.

Zoo/August

Those two words should never go together, but we did it anyway. We took the boys to the Tulsa Zoo and the Oklahoma Aquarium last weekend. (At least the aquarium had A.C.!) What did Henry like best? He liked the train pretty well. He got to see a real dump truck in action while we were on the train, because part of the zoo was under construction. Wow! He thought that was pretty cool. As for animals, I think he got his biggest thrill out of the big animals--the elephant and the giraffe.

But the best part of the zoo was the carousel!
They rode it twice and Henry was literally dragged away
kicking and screaming for more.

And what was the best part of the aquarium?
You would think it would be the fish, right?
The snakes, the beavers, the sharks???
Nope....

It was the turtles, of course!

Makeover

School starts on Monday (at least for teachers) and I have been working on my classroom. Our whole school moved two buildings down, so I have been unpacking boxes this week. I thought it would be a nightmare, but thanks to some help from my mom it only took me two full days and a few hours here and there at other times. I bit the bullet and decided to create a reading area in my room. Student-selected silent reading is really big at our school (180 minutes of silent reading per week) and I am teaching one reading class this fall in addition to U.S. History. The kids love to have a comfy spot to read and most teachers have an area like this in their rooms. My feelings on the reading area were always lukewarm--just a headache for the teacher. I could see arguments over who gets to sit there, students seating themselves there at inappropriate times, me walking into the room and witnessing multiple students sitting on each other's laps on the ottomans....you get the idea. I'm certain that all of these scenarios will play out, but I did it anyway. (I already have some ideas on how to keep the area under control.)

Things I did not buy, but just dug around in closets and attics at our house and my parents house: ottomans, pillows, plant, table, lamp.

Things I did buy: rug, paper lanterns, placemat, and curtains. I was pretty proud of myself for not spending too much money; the placemat was only $.99 at Target and the curtains were $7. I realize that it will not make the pages of Martha Stuart Living, but I think the kids will like it. I wish I had taken a picture of my whole classroom so you could see how my reading area looks within the context of the room.

The above is the reason that I am only on page 263 in Breaking Dawn. What are your thoughts on the book? No spoilers please.

I'm Busy Now...

Breaking Dawn was released today.

We're Back...

Every moment of our trip to New York City was packed. We walked and walked and walked, but we did take the subway too. Although we thought we were on the wrong subway once and got off, we were on the right one all along. (So am I allowed to say we never got lost?) Some of my fav's:

1. The food: some of the best I have ever tasted. We ate homemade pasta in Little Italy and Moroccan in Hell's Kitchen.

2. The Modern Museum of Art: the top two floor were filled with Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Renoir--that was great. The bottom floor was the really contemporary stuff, some of which was a little disturbing. Ex: a video of a naked torso of a woman hula-hooping with a hoop of barbed wire. Does anyone really enjoy that kind of art?

3. Walking through Times Square on my last morning and accidentally happening upon Randy Travis performing. (We also spotted Christian from Project Runway in Soho. He was last year's winner and the show is one of my favorites!)

Times Square

We really missed Henry while we were gone. We even looked through some of his flickr pics while we were there. Here he is looking through the doggy door.

Henry has a new-to-us (bought used) swing set. He loves to swing and slide. That boy can swing and slide until he is red in the face and covered in sweat!

A Guy, A Gun

How does anyone keep a decent pedicure around here? We walked so much today that my toenail polish wore off. Today was our first full day here in NYC and boy was it full! First was Times Square and the Naked Cowboy, then to the American Museum of Natural History for some dinosaur viewing, then a stroll in Central Park, dinner in Greenwich Village and a look around, and finally to Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center where we got a good nighttime view of the city--whew! We might need a little rest now. We did see a guy with a gun today, and this guy was no undercover cop either. We were walking down a very well-populated street in Greenwich Village in broad daylight and I looked across the street and saw this guy with a gun in his hand. He was either tucking it or untucking it from his waistband area. I wasn't sticking around to find out! I wouldn't say he was flailing it, but he certainly was not trying to hide it. Anyway, it looked more like a protecting turf thing than a threatening/mugging thing, and I don't think he was paying a bit of attention to us, but what do I know about people brandishing weapons in NYC?

Top of the Rock view of Empire State Building

Central Park Turtle Pond

Radio City

More Visitors

I've had the best time catching up with old friends this summer. If you ever come to town, please call me. Lord knows I'll call you if I'm ever in your town! Who do I know in NYC? Hmm...

Sorority Sisters: Me, Brian Hyde (with baby Jonathan),
and Betsy Anderson (who lives in Arizona now.)

College Friend:
Sunshine Hillygus with baby Jake, Henry, Me.

Jake, Henry & Karl.

Henry likes babies.

I'm not sure Jake was so thrilled,
but he did get his pacifier back eventually.

Swedes Are Here

My cousin Louise from Sweden is visiting here in Arkansas with her new husband Erik. (That sorta makes it sound like she had a former husband that she got rid of somewhere, but what I mean is that they are newlyweds.) Their visit gives us plenty of excuses to do fun stuff that most summers we would just talk about doing, but never progress beyond that. This summer we actually planned and executed the fun. We have been to War Eagle Cavern, the drive-in movie to see Wall-E, and a canoe trip on the Elk River. The picture below is of Louise and me in front of Beaver Lake. It's not the greatest picture because it was taken with my camera phone and no flash, but you get the idea.



Last night, while we were watching the fireworks in Rogers, Louise was saying that the next time she sees Henry and Karl they might be several years older. That struck me as really sad. Having an ocean between us is hard.

On a side-note, Henry enjoyed about the first two minutes of the fireworks. He pointed and stared and was not scared at all, but after that he lost interest and one of us ended up chasing after him all over the field for the rest of the display. Welcome to the world of raising a two-year-old. I have a feeling that the better part of the next year will be spent in the same manner.

Eureka!

This past weekend was our 9th annual girl's weekend; each summer 10 of my high school friends get together for a reunion. Here we are at Mt. Victoria Bed & Breakfast in Eureka Springs.



We had a great time investigating all the characters in Eureka Springs, like the creepy guy behind Brooke below.

This was quite possibly the most talented, foul-mouthed hillbilly band I have ever seen, complete with banjo, fiddle, and plenty of B.O. Thanks for requesting "57 Chevy" Missy and Brooke!

Mountain Sprout

Yippee!

Today has to be the best day of a teacher's year--the first day of summer break! Some great things are already happening. Here are a few I can think of: sleeping in until 8:30, a trip to NYC in July, visiting the farmer's market this morning, some archeology starting on Monday...

What could be better?

Chad has never been to New York City, and I have been only once in high school. Back then NYC was pretty dangerous and we were advised not to go into Central Park. We are planning to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Broadway show, Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, and Soho. Those are the things I'm most excited about. We are staying at the Algonquin, which dates from 1902 and seems like the perfect hotel for us. I love those old hotels with character (i.e. thin walls, creaky stairs & bad plumbing.) But I can overlook things like that for a fun vacation and a good price!

Has anyone been to NYC recently? We need some advice on shows to see and stuff to do. Restaurant advice would be good too. We are vegetarians, so no steak houses please, but we like all kinds of food including seafood.

Henry Turns Deux

Henry's Birthday: Two Years

Henry was flattered, but concerned when we all sang to him.

Chad decorated in Henry's favorite color.

Aunt Karin made the cake, also in Henry's favorite color.

Henry's birthday party was on Saturday. I have been trying to teach Henry to say "two," but it comes out sounding more like deux. He only says it when someone says "one".... then Henry says "deux"....then on three something fun usually happens (like he gets thrown on the bed or swung in the air.)

On a professional note, things are looking up at work. I will not, in fact, be teaching eighth grade English next year. A teacher resigned, which allows me to stay in my current position. Our school is moving to a newer building next year and I was able to visit my future room. I love it! It has two large windows and is painted a pleasant sage green color. More importantly, it is close to the office and a faculty restroom is just a few steps away!

Feel Sorry For Me

You should feel sorry for me:

• I have been sick since November and can't seem to shake it. I've been to the doctor five times, had four rounds of antibiotics, and had the flu twice this winter.
• I might be teaching 8th grade English next year in order to make room for a social studies/coach. Does this seem a wee bit unfair? I have not taught English in 9 years and I have a Master's in a social science.
• A woman's door blew open and hit my car while I was driving through the Lowe's parking lot. The woman wasn't even in her car.
  
• I have a broken rib from coughing so much. Seriously, who does this? Unlucky people, that's who!
  
• I can't sleep (see above regarding broken rib.) I can't lay on my stomach.....or my back....or my right side, due to excruciating pain. That doesn't leave me with many sleeping options.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer.

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

Cousin Karl cheering for the red team.

Henry, also cheering for the red team.

Last night Henry and I went with my brother and his family and some friends to watch the red/white Razorback football scrimmage (see pictures above). Henry and Karl were both very well-behaved. You never know what will happen with a two-year-old. (I highly recommend to all mothers a portable DVD player--my dad got it for Henry for Christmas and it has bought us many peaceful meals out at restaurants.)

I thought D.J. Williams and Micheal Smith looked good. The quarterbacks couldn't be tackled, so I'm not sure about them. Casey threw and interception, but also threw some nice passes. So did Nathan. It's hard to tell much in a scrimmage, but I can tell that Patrino will have plenty of support this year from the fans. The crowd was estimated to be about 40,000. The lower decks all the way around were about 75% full.

Today Henry has gotten himself into some trouble. First, I caught him eating dog food. Thank goodness our dog food doesn't contain any peanut ingredients. I don't actually think he swallowed any, but he was not happy when I forced it out of his mouth. (I swear we feed him meat, so don't go feeling sorry for him Teresa!) Later today I put Henry down in his crib for a nap. He usually goes down for naps and bedtime very willingly, but today he was very upset. He was kicking and screaming and crying. A few minutes later we heard this big thud and when Chad ran in to check it out, Henry was standing in the middle of his room crying. Henry fell out of his crib! It sounded like he fell head-first. Of course I wanted to rush him to the emergency room, but Chad is a little calmer than I am in situations such as these. Henry is just fine, but he cried for quite a while. I think he was really scared. Needless to say we spent the afternoon digging in the attic finding the parts to convert Henry's crib into a toddler bed. Henry is asleep in his new big boy bed right now. My little baby is officially a toddler now.

Newton County

Chad and I took our little vacation to Newton County and it turned out pretty nice. We hiked at Alum Cove, which is about 14 miles south of Jasper. There is a 130 foot long natural, sandstone bridge and some other crazy geological formations.

Natural Bridge

There are over 700 elk in Arkansas, but I only counted 43.

The Natural Bridge is really a collapsed cave.