Four Down, One to Go

Since Joseph and I found out we were expecting another baby, I have been gauging how long I have left through all the other pregnant ladies around me. In particular, there were four other girls due right around when I am. One sister-in-law, one friend in Utah, and two ward members. The first of these deliveries happened on December 22nd and the last happened January 25th. One of the ward members was due two weeks before me but her baby decided to come four weeks early (she was still 6 lb. 8 oz. and very healthy). That leaves me all alone in my pregnant state, still with four weeks to go. Honestly, I have been feeling very good and have no problem waiting until the day I'm due (February 22) because of how busy Emily keeps me and how much harder I know it'll be with two babies. I'm still excited though, don't get me wrong. I'm excited in a patient kind of way though.
Yesterday I had my 36 week doctor's appointment and ultrasound. The ultrasound estimate said that my baby probably weighs around 6 lb. 11 oz. This is troubling to me because that was what Emily's weight estimate was at her 41 week ultrasound. And this baby still has four weeks to grow! I do not want to give birth to a ten pound baby... not that I think he could gain three pounds in four weeks...

The ultrasound techs like to play around with a 3d program they have and printed me another claymation picture of the little guy. I thought it was kind of cool and not nearly as creepy as the pictures they gave me in October. I think his nose is probably already bigger than Emily's. She has a pretty miniscule nose. I remember all the kids crowding around her once in our old ward and saying "Wow! She has such a tiny nose!"


One last tidbit - Emily started Nursery last Sunday! It was a week early but she did pretty well. No crying, just a few forlorn looks of abandonment. Mostly happy playing though. I have one month's reprieve of babies in Relief Society before the whole process starts all over again!

Happy FHE!

Presenting our family home evening trifle, inspired by cheap strawberries.Created under the direction of Joseph, lover of garnishes and pretty foods.
A mini trifle (for quick consumption), due to Joseph's unflagging hate and fear of soggy bread.

Manners and Fashion

Emily is learning to help out with the dishes and with cooking. She likes to give directions and instructions to make sure that we handle critical steps in the right order: alright Daddy, now that you've prayed, kiss mommy and then turn the music back on; first this sock, then that sock, I've picked out some nice shoes for you; here, let me unplug the vacuum for you... now wrap up the cord please.
Along with her developing culinary sense, is a remarkable fashion sense. She is not opposed to pulling all of her clothes out of her drawers if necessary to find that perfect outfit. She knows how to accessorize.
She's still working on her manners. She says, "Uh oh," for burps or other gastrointestinal noises, but she's still learning the proper etiquette for eating casserole. Maybe I'm partially to blame.


This is some great casserole. I love this stuff! But eating it by hand is much too slow... how does Daddy finish off his cereal so fast in the morning?

Oh yeah! This is definitely the way to eat casserole. Delicious! Some fell on my shoulder? Meh, there's more where that came from.

This doesn't pour out as smoothly as Daddy's milk... not a problem. I'll just lick up those last few morsels.

Delicious. Now I'll just top it off with a swig of milk.

Um... hello? Why am I out of milk?

You know... Daddy never ends up with cereal on the back of his head. I wonder what's his secret.

Random happenings

Yesterday I found Joseph and Emily sharing a plate of nachos and cheese in a very calm, civilized manner. Emily was sitting on the coffee table and Joseph was sitting on the couch and the plate was between them (kind of like in this picture). Right after I congratulated them for acting so civilized, Emily returned a soggy chip to the plate that she had licked clean of nacho cheese, sour cream, taco meat, and olives and dunked her finger in a dollop of sour cream that she proceeded to noisily suck off. What a little monkey.

Yesterday, before the nacho party, I was following Emily around outside while she played with some other kids in our complex. One of them came up to me and said "Do you have a baby in your tummy because you look kind of fat." I was so, so grateful I could answer yes to that question.

The camera batteries just died, so no pictures for today.

Still here

We're still here. We're not doing anything though. It really is boring old January.
I am still pregnant, although in this picture it just looks like I am overweight. Notice how large that bun on my head is. My hair is getting ridiculously long - so long that I put it up on purpose when I went visiting teaching an inactive member the other day because my partner also has really long hair and I didn't want the visiting teachee to think we were part of a polygamist group. And the other picture... well, she really likes looking out that window. Her hair is clean and wet, not greasy.
Our baby/toddler is doing great. I'm trying to train myself to not call her a baby anymore, since that will cause much confusion once we have a real baby in the apartment. Today we had an eleven hour day. 4-1/2 hours of church, 5 hours of driving, half an hour of choir, and an hour in between hanging out at Jared and Suzie's house with their newly blessed baby Holly. Emily took it all in stride and has proven herself a highly adaptive, very resilient child. She was cheerful and entertaining during the car ride and mostly quiet during church meetings (two more weeks until nursery!!).
All in all, things are going very well here in Austin, though they are quiet.

Winter Weather

The difference between Utah and Texas.












12/22/08 ............................................... 01/01/09

Happy Birthday to Me!

I have been looking for a nice double jogging stroller forever on Craigslist and finally found one! It will help me with one of my new year's resolutions of getting more exercise.Thanks Mum, Michelle, Steph, and Sarah for the birthday present! (I've been hanging onto that birthday money since last September) I'm really excited about this stroller because the two seats recline separately and have separate sunshades. And it steers really well and is pretty light.

Random funny pictures to post - Emily loves this doll Grandma Cooper gave her for Christmas; she just doesn't know how to treat it. She goes out of her way to always hold it by its head and hates when the legs are dangling out of the stroller. As you can see in the picture, she takes special care to fold those legs up when they are sticking out.

Another Super Year

Along with the Birth of Christ and a new calendar year, this season also sees us celebrating another year of marriage. It has been super.
Here we see Super-baby partaking of some refreshment. Who is this dynamic avenger? Why has she never been photographed with mild-mannered Emily?

Hmm... this is a predicament. Do I bend the bars or leap over them in a single bound?
We were still in Utah for our anniversary. My parents had a nice family dinner and gave us some artwork that we have wanted to put up in the babies' room.
We had a great year and we're looking forward to another as a happy, growing family.