Goodness gracious

Where have I been? It's been ages since I've posted...so here are some quick updates

*have 5 weeks and 1 day *officially* left until Tatum is due to make her arrival
*we begin fetal activity monitoring tomorrow (once weekly ultrasounds and twice weekly nonstress test) - Why, you may ask? Just to double check that she doesn't have either of the cord issues that Kellen had (wrapped around neck AND the knot in the cord)
*I'm way behind on getting stuff done around the house, but oh well...
*Matt should be setting up the crib, changing table, etc. this week
*I'm still searching for the *perfect* coming home from the hospital outfit for Tatum - but so far, no luck yet
*Kellen is still SUPER excited about his little sister - he talks about how he'll teach her this or that, how he'll help mommy and daddy take care of her, and how he'll even share his toys with her...the big ones, because he doesn't want her to put the small ones in her mouth and swallow them...(Isn't that just adorable!)

You may remember me posting information about Matt's friend Tom and his battle with cancer. Well, his fight is now over. We attended his funeral a few weeks ago. I'm glad that he's not suffering anymore, but just cannot begin to imagine how hard things are and will be for his wife and daughter. Please keep them in your prayers...

Happy 2007

Ok...so I'm a little late here...but better late than never, right?

I have the day off today, Kellen went to MawMaw and PawPaw's and Matt's at work. Perfect recipe for resting, right? HA! Fat chance...I got up with them this morning and have been working ever since. What is with me? Oh wait...it's called nesting...and since we don't have a room for the nursery - the entire house is where I'm focusing my energy.

Let's see...so far today I've:
1) emptied the dishwasher so that Matt could reload and run it before he left;
2) cleaned out the vacuum cleaner;
3) vacuumed all of the carpets in the house;
4) cleaned out the pantry - every shelf, trashed old & expired food, cleaned each of the shelves, and reorganized it;
5) cleaned under the kitchen sink, getting rid of some the misc. cleaning supplies and various other oddities located there;
6) just put in my 4th load of laundry;
7) cleaned both bathroom toilets (remainder of the bathroom is to come);
8) braved the cold and swept leaves, etc. off of the front porch

Oh, and the only things that I've done so far that were actually on my to-do list were the laundry, dishes, and the pantry.

Still on the docket for me to work on...
1) sweep & mop the kitchen (contemplating getting a good scrub going here...rather than the swiffer - but we'll just have to wait and see);
2) go through the tupperware cabinet, make sure there are matching lids/bottoms, & purge some;
3) go through the green trunk in our bedroom - who knows what we've been storing in that thing...just bedding if I remember correctly;
4) dust (my least favorite cleaning task of ALL times);
5) clean all of the mirrors in the house;
6) finish cleaning both bathrooms;
7) get all of the trash ready for tomorrow's trash pick-up;
8) vacuum the futon

Oh, and I would like to actually rest sometime today, too...maybe give myself a facial and manicure????? We'll just see how much I'm actually able to accomplish...So far, I'm feeling pretty good about what I've gotten done so far, and it's not even 11 AM!

Whoo hoo!

Whew!

What a whirlwind holiday! We had the Gerren's over for lunch on Christmas Eve. Other than me forgetting to make the stuffing, everything turned out wonderfully! We were able to get a family picture, which is great, too. I don't know when the last time was that we were all together...Then we were on to Matt's Uncle Randy and Aunt Laurie's house...Christmas Eve there and then back to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's for Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning. Needless to say, Kellen had a BLAST, and was relatively well-behaved considering his lack of sleep. Later that day, we drove down to Houston to visit Matt's moms side of the family. Lots of food, games and naps took place there...and all-in-all, everyone had a great time.

We made it back home on Tuesday night, had a day home to recoup, then headed out again on Thursday morning for the Stephenville area...We were heading out to some friends of ours for a Holiday Bowl party. Gotta' love them Aggies! Highlight of the game - the first quarter - at least by the end of that we were tied...*sigh* Back here yesterday afternoon (lucikly making it through all of the horrible weather that was going on around here yesterday - whew! I was SO glad that Matt was driving!!)....today's just been a lazy day...the weather is still gloomy - dark, rainy, you know...the kind of weather you DON'T want to get out in, so Kellen has just been playing very nicely around here and we've been letting him watch some of the many DVD's he got over Christmas.

When I get a chance to download the pictures we took over the break, I'll try to upload them.

I'm not ready yet!

We're having Christmas lunch here at the house tomorrow with the Gerren's, and I just don't feel ready! Virtually all of the shopping is done, but I still have a few things to wrap - but despite working on the house for the last couple of days, I still have things on the "to-do" list that I just can't seem to get done.

It doesn't help that Tatum has decided to use the last couple of days and my internal organs to experiment with her strength, either. Wow! She's really moving and kicking! It's wearing me out...I told Kellen that he needed to tell his sister to knock it off...he told me he wouldn't say that to her because it was mean and he didn't want to be mean to his sister. Oh man...If only I could have recorded that for posterity.

Getting there!

Well, I passed my gestational diabetes 1-hr test today. Yay! For some reason, I was a little anxious about that one this go-round. All things are progressing well with Tatum...3 more months!

Getting ready

With Christmas a week away, it's a shame how much we still have to do to get ready around here! Yikes! Fortunately, I should get most of my Christmas letters in the mail tomorrow, and we'll just keep going from there.

Where did December go?....Where did this year go?

I guess he solved that issue with his recent comment

I'll preface this little story by saying that DH and I had been contemplating not putting up a Christmas tree or many decorations since we're trying to declutter and get our place ready to sell.

I pick Kellen up from school today, and today was the day that all the kids hung their handmade ornaments on the school Christmas tree. Kellen excitedly hangs up his green star, then we set off to come home. In the car, he tells me, "It's Merry Christmas at school, but not at home." A little surpised, I asked him why does he think that. His response, "There is a Christmas tree at school, but not one at our house."

Well that solved that debate. I believe we'll be getting the Christmas tree sometime this weekend.

**** Sweet big brother moment ****
Tatum was(is) really kicking this afternoon, so I asked Kellen if he wanted to feel her kick. He did, so he had his hand on my belly while she was kicking - with this really excited look on his face. Then he turned to me and said, "She's kicking because she's ready to come out of your tummy!"

While this was happening, I had my t-shirt pulled up over my belly...when he was finished feeling her kick, I started to pull my shirt back down and he told me to wait. He said that she needed a blanket to cover her up - then proceeded to go and get one of his blankets and "tuck-in" his sister - and my belly. Just adorable!!

And so it starts...

Kellen asked me this evening how the baby would get out of my tummy.

I thought I would have a little while longer (i.e. until he was OLDER) before I would begin having those kinds of conversations.... Anyway, we talked for a little while about it and at one point in time, he asked if the baby was going to break me when it came out. (It'll feel like it, buddy!) I think that I was able to explain it in a way that he understands, because after we were almost through talking, I asked him if he was scared that the baby would hurt mommy when it came out and he answered no.

Whew!

He was so cute about it! The innocence with his questions and his reactions to my reponses...just priceless!

Rough day

I'll make this a short post...but it's been a rough day. We had to put Bailey down today, and neither Matt nor I are doing very well with that. Then Matt lost his phone - *sigh* Just not a great day.

Matt had a talk with Kellen on the way home from school about Bailey and that he wouldn't be at our house anymore. He and I had talked about what each of us thought we should say to him, so Matt incorporated both of our thoughts into his talk. So, before bedtime, this is my conversation with Kellen:

Mommy: Kellen, do you want to talk about Bailey?

Kellen: Not right now. I don't want to talk about it.

Mommy: Ok, but I want to make sure you know that it's ok to be sad because Bailey isn't here.

Kellen: I'm not sad.

Mommy: You're not sad?

Kellen: No, Bailey is with Jesus. But Mommy and Daddy are sad, but not Kellen.

Mommy at this point in time is choking back tears. He's handling it so well...Too bad Mommy and Daddy aren't.

Updates...

Ok, it's been WAY too long since I've posted anything on here. I would like to say that I've been sitting around eating bon bons and getting massages and pedicures, but alas...no such luck - well, 1 pedicure to speak of, actually..

Let's see...to back up and try to recap...

Halloween...Kellen had a GREAT time as Buzz Lightyear.

The weekend prior to Halloween, Matt, Maw Maw and Paw Paw took him to an event at the MSC hosted by MSC Hospitality, and he had a blast. They had TONS of games to play, cookies to decorate, cupcakes, etc. He flirted with the girls and "pow powed" everyone with his Buzz Lightyear laser.

He was just adorable! (And really well behaved, too!)

He also experienced his first ever Aggie football game when we took him to watch A&M at Baylor stadium. Despite having virtually NO nap all day long, and thinking he was going to just sleep through the entire thing, he ended up coming alive during the second half and really getting into it! He just loves his Aggies! We went to a tailgate before the game, and he just had a great time playing with the rocks in the parking lot (surprise, surprise). This is a picture taken right at kick-off...

This is during the latter part of the game where he REALLY was getting into it...He was so adorable to watch!That particular weekend was REALLY full, as he had a birthday party to attend on Sunday...and it was a costume party! Yet another opportunity for him to become Buzz Lightyear...Incredible Pizza is really that...incredible! He had a blast playing the games and doing some of the little rides, and thotoughly enjoyed himself.

Then on Halloween day, his class had a party - costume of course. We didn't let him wear Buzz to school all day, but changed him into it right before the party. He was being quite the little camera ham...posing in various ways and asking me to take his picture. After the school party, we went to the mall and trick-or-treated at the mall (the ENTIRE mall) and ran into a "Bulls-eye" and another "Buzz Lightyear", then he was ready to go, only to tell me in the car that he wanted to go somewhere else. So, we went to sorority row and trick-or-treated at sorority row, where we ran into a "Woody" - he just loved it! Too bad the poor kid that was dressed up like Woody was shy...I think Kellen intimidated him a little bit! We were there for a little while when he tells me that he's through, go back to the car and, you guessed it! he wanted to go someplace else. So, we went to a local Halloween party/community carnival and he just HAD to play every single game there! He wore me out!!

We've also taken down the toddler bed and have switched Kellen to a real big-boy bed. It's a captains bed with drawers, etc., and he just loves it! Maw Maw bought him some Cars sheets, which of course were a HUGE hit.

Thanksgiving was good...We went to Minerva for the Gerren/Dyer Thanksgiving get-together and had a good time there. On Friday, we drove to Conroe to hang out with the Hapes, including Brenna, and watched the A&M vs tu game. Oh my goodness! I think I'm still in shock that we won that game! WHOOP! Stayed there until Saturday night, then came on back home.

Last Thursday, we took Kellen to the Veggie Tales Live Christmas show here in town, and he had a really good time. The weather had turned pretty cold, and the wind had really kicked up, so I'll have to include my "attack by the wind" story that resulted in a bumped noggin' and (not too bad) of a black eye later.

Whew!...In other news, we had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and found out that we're having a little girl. At the ultrasound, she measured 1 pound 3 ounces, which is larger than my book (you know, the week-by-week pregnancy books that estimate/generalize everything) indicate for the number of weeks at that time. We decided to find out because Kellen was SO adamant that this was a girl that if it turned out to be a boy, we figured that we would need some additional "adjustment" time for him to deal with it. When we told him it was a girl, it didn't faze him. My guess is that in his mind, he was thinking, 'duh...that's what I've been saying for months now.'

As of today, I'm 25 weeks. 3 1/2 more months to go! This pregnancy has just FLOWN by so far! I can't believe it! She's getting really active (surprise), and her movements are getting stronger. Matt and I have been doing the name game, and I think that we've settled on Tatum Elizabeth. She'll be here before we know it!

Laundry helper

I was putting a load of laundry in the washing machine after Kellen and I got home tonight...he was wearing something that needed to be washed with that load, so I took off his shoes and then his pants to throw them in the wash.

I then left the room, went to another room to find other clothes of the same color, when I hear this, "Mommy, mommy...I have more clothes for you to wash!" In runs my Kellen-boy butt naked...holding his undies for me to put in the washing machine. It was SO funny! I had to collect myself to tell him that I didn't need that color right now, but thank you for trying to help Mommy...and to put them back on.

Oh my goodness...it still makes me laugh!

***Will update with more pumpkin patch pictures and cutie-pie Halloween pictures as soon as I get a chance!**

Pumpkin patch fun

Kellen and I went to the pumpkin patch this afternoon to 1) get outside (it was a beautiful day) and 2) to try and get some fall pumpkin pictures. Here are some of the better ones taken this afternoon. He's such a ham!

I'm finally back!

Well, I'm back from Indianapolis...last week seemed like an eternity! I *think* that our dept review went well (I won't really know anything until I get back into the office tomorrow, since I missed their report on Wednesday), but our flight out on Wednesday...well, most of Wednesday all together, was a mess!

Our flight left CS late (fog & putting extra fuel into the plane because of potential turbulence) - and there were 6 of us that needed to catch a connecting (10:26 flight) out of IAH to Indianapolis that morning. Like good little girls, we asked our flight attendant about our connecting and if they would hold the flight for us if we were running a bit late. She assured us that they would check the missing passengers to see where they were coming from and when they realized that we were all on the same flight, hold it for us. Well, that didn't happen. We got off of that plane and high-tailed it to our connecting, only to be told at the gate that they had left minutes before. Literally minutes. Arg!

So, they confirmed us on a 4:43 pm flight out of IAH - yes, at this point in time it was barely 10:30 AM...and they put us on standby for an 1:15 flight as well. So, we all went and had a wonderful lunch (the highlight of that day, by the way), and waited to see if we would get on the 1:15. I called Matt and Judy (to check on Kellen) and my Judy, very concerned, indicated that she hoped we would get off of the ground before the weather hit Houston. Yikes! We hoped so, too.

Anyway...they begin boarding for the 1:15 flight and let us know that we all made it onto that flight. YAY! We get on the flight, get seated, then proceed to have one delay after another. Weather, taxing down into position, get the ok to take off (but we're 18th in line), then are told that they aren't leatting anyone take off due to weather, and so on and so forth. Between 4:30 - 4:45 PM (yes, I have the times correct), our flight FINALLY takes off. We had been waiting in the plane for 3 hours. *major sigh* The flight was horribly turbulent, I guess due to the weather...so it wasn't pleasant at all.

We finally arrive in Indianapolis around 7 PM...One of the ladies has reserved a rental car, so she checks on her car and upgrades to a larger one. We take a shuttle bus to the car and there is not a car in the numbered spot. So, she goes inside to check on it...they upgrade her (yay) to another, larger car and send her to a 2nd numbered spot...where...you guessed it...there is no car. She goes in again, gets another car number...no car. (I only wish I was making this up)...The third time, the lady behind the counter, in an incredibly apologetic manner, tells her to pick whatever kind of car she wants and she'll have someone find one like it in the lot and drive it to us...So we end up with an SUV and head out to the hotel.

At the hotel, we get checked in (luckily, no problems there) and then unload our stuff and meet back to head to dinner. By this time, we're all really glad that we had a good lunch...because it's almost 9 PM and we haven't had a bite since then, other than for the small snacks I had brought with me on the trip. We end up going to eat someplace fairly close to the hotel and I practically fell asleep during the meal!

BTW...because of all of the delays, we missed the Wednesday conference registration AND the Wednesday night plenary speaker.

Whew! The rest of the conference went really well...as did the flight home. However, once we walked into the door, we realized that Matt hadn't completely closed the refrigerator door when he left on Wednesday afternoon (he was interviewing in Houston Wednesday - Friday, then spent the night with his parents and brought Kellen straight to the airport to pick me up). So, needless to say, the ENTIRE contents of our refrigerator where thrown away except for Hershey's syrup and pancake syrup. On the bright side - Matt did a WONDERFUL job of cleaning the refrigerator out...and actually cleaned it...all of the shelves, drawers, etc. It looks so sparkly new! Ha Ha..

At any rate, I'm glad to be home...now I need to go and continue to be "domestic" and get the rest of the house cleaned up and the laundry done!

Rough day

So Kellen had a little bit of a rough day today. It was picture day at school, and for ONCE I actually got to be there when they took the pictures. I guess it kinda' went downhill behavior-wise after that. He didn't have an accident, but ended up biting someone and ignored his afternoon teacher. *Sigh* Apparently, he was pretending to be a puppy and bit his friend...what is that about?

We did get home and play a couple of games of Memory, so that was fun. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Outage

Oh boy...was last night a doozey! Kellen and I were unfortunate enough to be at the vet's office when electricity went out. Little did we know that it was the electricity for EVERYWHERE in the Brazos Valley. So, unbenownst to us, we drive home with Bailey from the vet's office, a trip that should take 7-12 minutes, depending on traffice, at 5:30 yesterday, but instead of ~ 10 minutes, it took us ~ 35-40 mintues to finally get home. When we did, we discovered that we had zero electricity....and we were with nothing (no surges, browouts, nothing) until after 10 PM last night.

Kellen was a good sport about it at first...we had peanut butter sandwiches in the table in his room - he was excited about having a picnic! When it got dark ~ 7:30, I put him to bed, but with the windows being open to try to get some air, the outside noises (people shooting off fireworks, loud vehicles, etc.) really bothered him, (he was crying, scared, etc.) so he and I snuggled in our recliner for a little while until I finally said enough of this and he and I both went to bed in Mommy's bed (which was a treat for him).

As he was going to sleep, Kellen kept saying, "Mommy, I think the electricity will be back on when I wake up, right?" He was so cute about it! And, it was kinda' difficult to explain electricity to a 3-yr old...I went with, 'You know how your toys need batteries? Well, the lights, TV, computer, refrigerator...all of those things need electricity to work. You know sometimes when the batteries don't work anymore that it makes the toy not work, well that's what going on right now. There is no electricity coming for anything in the house to work.' I think that kind of worked to help him understand, at least somewhat, what was going on...

When the electricity came on for good last night ~ 10 PM, it woke me up - so I went around the house closing all of the windows, turning off lights, etc. Man, it's amazing how dependent we are on the electricity!

Well...today I get to work and it felt like I was walking into a sauna. Apparently, there is a cool water outage - and the cool water helps the HVAC system cool. And it seems that it wasn't just my building that was impacted - it was most, or all, not quite sure about that, of West Campus. This morning the boss just told us if we couldn't take it to go home and come back after lunch...about half of the administrative office chose to do that, but I was really trying to get some stuff done and couldn't. After lunch, a little better, but not much, so at ~ 2:30 - we all left, with permission and blessings from the boss. Yay!

So, I had an afternoon to run errands! I went and looked at beds for Kellen, returned some things to a couple of stores, and then went movie crazy at Wal-Mart! Kellen got a new VeggieTales DVD and then I bought The Little Mermaid, which was released on DVD yesterday, Cinderella, and the new X-Men DVD (the one that Matt promised to take me to see in the movie theater, even though he went and watched it with someone else - can you tell that I never did get to see that in the movie theater?). I picked Kellen up early, we went for a sno-cone, and then back to the house. And he's getting to watch his new VeggieTales as a treat tonight.

Then he's getting in bed on time tonight, because the season premiere of LOST is on! Whoo hoo!!

Possible explanation

For still being so tired....despite being in my 2nd trimester.

The doctors watch my thyroid levels REALLY closely when I'm pregnant, and I just got back some numbers that MIGHT explain why I'm still SO TIRED! The TSH has an "normal" range; however, my body (and the doctors) like for me to be at the lower end of this range (~1.0). My levels are currently at 3.3 (high end of the normal range is 5.1) - I was a 0.2 the last time I went in. So, needless to say, the doctor upped my dosage of meds...During my pregnancy with Kellen, we ended up tripling the dosage, and this is the first increase of my meds with this pregnancy. He wants me to do a gradual increase - 2 different doses, 1 4X/wk; 1 3X/wk, for 4 weeks then go completely on the higher dose for another 2 weeks, then run more lab work. Keep your fingers crossed that this will help some with my energy level!

Not YET!

Well, we told Kellen on Saturday morning that he was going to be a big brother. It was actually rather anti-climactic.

Matt and I called him into the kitchen, I sat him on my lap and started off with, "You know how you've been wanting a baby sister or baby brother?"

Kellen: "Baby sister!"

Mommy: "Ok, I know, baby sister. Honey, Mommy and Daddy can't control that, ok? Well, Mommy and Daddy are going to have a baby and it's growing in Mommy's tummy, see?"

Daddy: "Kellen, this means that you're going to be a BIG BROTHER!"

Kellen: "Yay!" Slight pause..."I want to go and play with Woody and Buzz in my room."

He slides off of my lap and starts to walk away.

Daddy: "Wait Kellen. Do you understand what Mommy and Daddy are telling you? You're going to be a big brother, are you excited?"

Kellen: "Yes. Can I go and play now?"

****

This morning on the way to school, I asked him if he was excited about being a big brother. His response,

"I NOT a big brother YET! Not yet!"

Well alrighty then!

Tug at the heartstrings

Uhh....Kellen was so disobedient after I picked him up from school yesterday...For every 5 things I asked him to do/not do, he disobeyed 3-4...Before DH went to work, he went into his room and told me, "Go away please, Mommy" I was suspicious, since he's wanted to be around me all afternoon, so I asked him if he needed to go potty or poo poo. "No" was the reply (and I asked in a variety of ways). Ok, no big deal, so I left the room AFTER telling him that IF he needed to go poo poo or potty, remember to tell Mommy so we could go on the potty and not go poo poo in our pants. And I left it at that. (I'm trying really hard not to push this aspect too much, or to get upset/frustrated when accidents happen - SO difficult!!)

About 5 or 10 minutes later, while Matt was getting ready for work, I hear him say, "Well, you need to go tell your Mommy." So I go to find out what I'm now supposed to know...I asked him if he had poo poo'ed in his pants. "No." I asked him if he was lying to me (and in case you're wondering - he knows what lying is and that is isn't allowed or tolerated). "No." Well, I told him that I was going to check and we walked into the bathroom and, sure enough, Kellen had poo poo'ed in his underwear. After getting him on the potty and cleaning him up, I looked at him and told him that I was sad that he had lied to me and that he was not allowed to lie to Mommy or Daddy. (I'm ignoring the fact that we had JUST had a discussion about the potty, because I'm trying a new tactic of not focusing on accidents that occur). However, the lying is a no-no.

So, as a result, he went to bed early last night (~ 7 P.M. instead of his normal 8 P.M. bedtime). As I tucked him in, I put some of the smaller toys that I don't like him sleeping with on his bookshelf to "watch him sleep" - he likes for his toys to watch him sleep...just a thing that he does. Anyway, I told him that if I came into his room and any of those toys were in bed with him, that I was going to take them away from him and out of his room. "Ok, Mommy," was the reply. A little time passed and I hear a knock on the door and a voice calling out to me. I go into his room and he doesn't want the music on. Ok, no big deal - turn it off. A few minutes later, knock on the door and, "Mommy, I need to go potty." Ok, open the door and make a trip to the potty - take him and tuck him back into bed and loe and behold, there are two of the small toys that he's trying desperately to cover up. Uhhh...So I ask him what he has and he tells me. I thank him for telling me the truth and remind him what the consequence of bringing them to bed was...and proceed to walk out of the room with them. A few minutes later, "Mommy, I need a hug." I walk into his room and he's still in bed, with his bottom lip pushed out far enough for a plane to land on it...I go and sit on the side of his bed and give him a hug and a kiss and tell him how much I love him. "I love you too, Mommy." Then I tell him that I'm sad that he lied to me and that he has to go to bed early, but that I still love him. His response, "I am sad too...I'm sad that I disobeyed you and got Timone and Pumba off of the shelf."

Oh my gosh! That just made my heart melt! I sometimes get so frustrated with things, but this was (hopefully) verfication that he IS putting together action and consequence...What we're doing IS soaking in...He understands, but still makes poor choices, but then again, don't we all sometimes?

Hapes family update

Ok...I've been promising for a while to give a family update since I've been so bad at doing regular blogs...

Aside from the tumble down the stairs this morning on the way to school, and subsequent busted lip, bloody nose, and bumped noggin' on the concrete (final blow to the little guy), Kellen's doing great! I really feel like we're getting SO close to being fully potty trained (except for night time, when he still gets a pull-up). We're working on a reward system...and I really need to work up a sticker calendar or something so that he has a visual, but haven't taken the time to do that yet. So far, his rewards have been the rental of a movie after a week of no accidents. The first week this was implemented, we started on a Wednesday and he made it, but we haven't made any full weeks since then. I think we might need to rethink that particular reward system...doesn't seem to be working out well for him and if he has an accident at the beginning of the week, what's the incentive for the remainder of the week? Definitely needs some more thought...*grin* but we're getting there!

Matt has another two weeks (7 shifts, he reminded me as he went to work today) at the Med as a full-time employee. He's desperately missing being in the "field" and will be going back to EMT work. This change of schedule will actually help him finish up with his remaining paramedic rotations (OR and a few hours of ER, then he can begin his ambulance rotations), then on to the National Registry Exam. He's already signed up for it...and it's a November test date, so pray that all goes well as we are now really down to the last little bit of this. There are several companies hiring in the Houston area, so we're pretty optimistic about the prospects for a full time paramedic position.

Probably the biggest Hapes news, which some of you may already know, is that we're having another baby...with an expected arrival of March 19th. As of today (if we're calculating everything correctly), I'm 14 weeks along...so any day now I should be getting my energy boost...Right? So far so good in terms of how I'm feeling. Some mild morning sickness, but mostly nausea, which has been cured most days by a chocolate milkshake from Whataburger. Those are really easing my stomach...and have been a staple in my diet for the past 2-3 weeks. We haven't told Kellen that he's going to be a big brother, but I think that he knows...He's been turning lots of his stuffed animals, and even a football at school, into babies...wrapping them in blankets, holding them, putting them down for naps, you name it. Although it's obvious that I'm in the early stages of a pregnancy, we're thinking that we're going to try and hold off telling him for a little while still...Matt says we won't tell him until he asks why Mommy's belly is getting so big, but I'm not sure about waiting that long (well, it really might not actually be that long, I guess).

Hopefully I'll be getting some more energy soon, and will do my best to be more regular about blogging and updates on the fam...

Wow-what a funny boy

I know that I've been horrible about updating and keeping the blog current, so I promise a Hapes family update soon; however, here is a funny exhange that occured at our place last night.

Kellen: Mommy, my slkdndsknlsest hurts.

Mommy: What hurts?

Kellen: My slkdkjest.

Mommy: What?

Kellen: (motioning with both hands to his chest) My ...est.

Mommy: Your chest hurts?

Kellen: NO, my breast hurts.

Mommy: Kellen, you don't really have breasts.

Kellen: (with a puzzled and surprised look on his face) I don't?