The Results Are IN!!!

Hello all!



Well, we have had an eventful day to say the least. My parents - Grandpa Dave and Grandma Le - arrived last night. Alex was winding down when they pulled in, and he then gained a second wind. So after entertaining his grandparents for about 45 minutes - he CRASHED!! We expected him to sleep in a little this morning, nope! He was up at his usual time. We had a full day planned, because today was the day for the big ultrasound. This is what I have been worried about for the past few weeks, because of the lack of movement on the baby's part. Andy had taken the afternoon off, and I had to twist my parents' arms to see if they would watch Alex while we went to Grand Island. There were a few things that we still needed from Home Depot, so we all loaded up and went down. While Andy and I were seeing Acta for the first time, the three went to Home Depot, Menards, ShopKo, and lots of other places. The back of the pickup was packed!! One of the toys that they bought was a sand/water table for Alex. Here are a few shots of the three of them playing once we got home.....




I don't think that I have ever laughed so hard in my life - Alex was trying to drink the water, but would get more than he could handle into his mouth, so spit it out (and let run down his shirt and shorts) when he got too much. He was SOAKED!!!!! Water was dripping from his shorts they were so wet. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes came out so we had to head inside. No need for a bath for Alex tonight - he had a complete bathing outside!

Now, on to the "results" of the ultrasound. The tech that administered it was especially nice - very social and explained things very well. She took a lot of shots, measurements, and decided that my due date and the measurement date were only a day apart. The doctor said I should be due on November 2 - the measurements said November 3. If this one is anything like Alexander, we'll be lucky to have a baby by December 20. (I'm not kidding - Alex was VERY late!!) Anyway, the baby is breeched right now, but she said that in a matter of 5 minutes that could change. Only at week 37 do they begin to worry if baby is still that way. I'm at week 20, so no need to stress now.

This baby gave us all of the shots that we needed, and moved very little. (Therefore making the "I don't feel the baby" even more real - this baby is very mellow!) We got great shots of the heart with all 4 chambers, the kidneys, the femur, diaphragm, head measurements, spine shots (all which looked GREAT according to the Tech), two little feet with the little piggies, the right arm (the way that the baby was laying, we couldn't see the other one), a profile, and we were able to get a good "crotch shot" (Aunt Elly's words - I am merely borrowing them). Yes, we know what the baby is!!! :)

Here's one of the shots of a side profile. She labeled the chin, lips, and nose. The baby is on it's back - -

You didn't think that I would leave you "hanging" as to what the sex of the baby is.......And the "crotch shot" - -

In this shot, you are looking up at the butt. The legs are going out to either side, and the little winkie is in the middle (the arrow is pointing to it!).

I guarantee you, this is the first and last time that you will see a winkie on this family blog. :)

Now, we need your help, faithful blog readers. We had been so focused on girls names, that we are not knowing where to begin with the boys names. We would like suggestions from ALL of you, please! Either leave a comment or e-mail us directly, we would LOVE to hear your suggestions!

(Obviously, names like "Owen Bo Bowin" and "Edwardo Bowin" will NOT be considered - but feel free to recommend whatever you like - we do reserve the right to veto any and all names. Sorry, I had to put that in there, I know some of you and the way you think). :)

2 BOYS!!! What am I going to do with myself????!!!!!?!?!? :)

Happy Father's Day!

...to all of you wonderful fathers out there. We are blessed to know a number of wonderful fathers - and had outstanding fathers growing up (they are STILL outstanding!), we are so blessed to have ALL of these wonderful fathers in our life.

This morning, after church, I wanted to take a picture of "my boys" - and got a better picture than I could have dreamed of!! This was the one and only shot - Alex must be getting used to this camera thing!! :)



Happy Father's Day, Andy - Alex and I are so lucky to have you in our life. :)

Now on to the past events since our last post.

Thursday Alex and I drove down to Broken Bow to surprise Daddy by taking him out to lunch. It's not easy to surprise Andy, because he can tell when I am "hiding" something. I had just asked him to call me when he was done at the nursing home in Broken Bow, so that Alex and I could "swoop" in and pick him up and take him to lunch. He, of course, asked, "Why?" And he could tell from my, "Oh, no reason - just so we can talk.......yeah." answer that something was up. I do think that he was a little surprised, even though I think that he had pretty much figured out what was going on. We went to the new Runza - it was OUTSTANDING!!! I don't think that I have ever had a better "fast food" meal in my life! Yum!

Friday Alex and I spent most of the day doing laundry, cleaning, and getting ready for the ball game that night. We drove down to Boelus (about 1 hour away - by Grand Island) for a Seniors game. DCB (The Dannebrog-Cairo-Boelus) team has only a Seniors' team, so there was only one game. They have the most beautiful field - trees, grass, playground, running water - the only drawback is that it is by the river so the bugs were terrible. We seemed to be spraying every hour or so - Alex walked away unscathed, but Andy and I have a few new bites. The guys took DCB to 7 innings (their ball games are only 7) - which was a "moral victory" for them because DCB has been a state qualifier for a LONG time - they have a pretty solid program. The final score was 9-0, and the guys were so happy that they held them to only 9.

Saturday we spent that morning cleaning out the bathroom because it's going to be getting it's makeover beginning Monday. We sorted through stuff that should have been thrown away a long time ago, and put "like" stuff together. So, the bathroom is cleaned out and ready to go. Then Andy had 2 games (both Juniors and Seniors) in Broken Bow. Last time the Juniors played them, they lost 26-8. This time they barely lost in the bottom of the 7th - 12-11. Broken Bow is the best team these guys will play all season, so them holding up a great defensive game was outstanding. They made Broken Bow come from behind to win - they really played great. The Seniors on the other hand - let's just say that they had fun. One of the radio announcers that was there said on his broadcast, "I don't think that I have ever seen this before - every player has been to bat here in the first inning, and every single player has scored a run!" Yeah. Andy went through 4 pitchers in the 3-inning game. (There's a 15 run rule - where if one team is winning by 15 after 3 innings, the game is over.) 3 of those pitchers were in the first inning. The final score was 16-1. They managed to score 1 run, so they were happy with that.

Then on to today - we took Andy out to Country Neighbor for their lunch special. Roast Beef, BBQ Pork Loin, or Country-Fried Steak. This afternoon we are working on cleaning the garage so there's room to work in there with the remodel, laundry, and the lawn. My folks, Grandma Le and Grandpa Dave are on their way up as we speak (although I haven't heard from them yet - they were to leave at 1, and it's now 3:45) - but they were going to be having supper in Lincoln with my grandparents. They should be pulling in (hopefully) before bedtime.

Well, that's all for now - sorry it's so long. We will have pictures of our remodel as we are going - we are VERY excited!! :)

Friday

W!

YAY! Andy's team pulled out a win last night! They had been playing really well, and they needed this.....good for them. :) Unfortunately, Alex and I weren't able to watch the whole game, as the little man was exhausted and insisted on running into the parking lot every time I wasn't holding his hand. I was too tired already, so we left at the end of the 5th inning. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and didn't even rowse the slightest when I pulled him out of his carseat and laid him on the couch. About an hour later, I tried to wake him up so he could play for a while and then go to bed late - no luck. He was still out. Even at the mention of ice cream (which he LOVES), no response. He slept well until about 1:30 - then woke up screaming. After pulling him into bed with us, he was out. I wish I could figure out what goes on inside that boy's head....

Speaking of what goes on inside his head.......

What makes these pictures especially puzzling is that he was trotting all around the house yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!" When he got no response from his beloved father (because Daddy was at work), he began the, "Andy! Andy!" routine. (For those of you who don't know, when Andy doesn't respond to the "Daddy" call, Alex will begin yelling "Andy". It's actually pretty funny now - I know that soon it won't be. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for naming me "Christine" - it will be YEARS before he can pronounce that!!) :)

Anyway, back to the puzzling pictures......this morning, before Andy left, Alex wanted NOTHING to do with Andy. He tried getting him his milk, juice, and water because he was thirsty - and Alex didn't want anything that Dad handed to him....he wouldn't even give Andy a hug goodbye! Now that Andy's been gone for over 1 1/2 hours, I think that I have heard the "Daddy, Andy" combo at least 500 times. Alex has even resorted to looking out the window and to every passing car - "Daddy!!??" Sorry, little man, today's Thursday and we don't get to see Daddy until late in the afternoon (today's Andy's day to go to Burwell, then to Broken Bow, back to Sargent, and then to Ord - I couldn't keep it all straight - I don't know how he does....)

Anyway, that's the story. :) No ball games tonight, but we have one Friday night and two Saturday night. Then we take a break for about a week - Grandma Le and Grandpa Dave are coming up on Sunday to begin helping us with our "big" remodel. Then Great-Grandpa Frank (and maybe Great-Grandma Frank - she hasn't decided yet, we are still working on getting her to come out here, too!) comes on Tuesday. Don't worry, there will be LOTS of pictures!

Have a great day! :)

New Tricks!

The things that must go through a toddler's mind.....




What will happen if I do this?



Even though I know this has hurt in the past, maybe if I try it again, will it still hurt?



I wonder how this tastes (of course, NEVER a food item!)?




Do Mom and Dad really mean that I shouldn't do that, or is it merely a suggestion?

And of course, can I fit in there?

Yep, he dropped his baseball bat and cork behind the couch - which is up against the picture window in the living room. Shortly after this picture was taken, with cork securely in the mouth and the bat in his right hand, he FREAKED out because he must have realized that he was stuck. The things he does just crack me up - hopefully he has learned his lesson, but I won't be holding my breath. :)

Catcher?

The other night at the baseball game, I noticed that Alex was watching one player in particular on the field......maybe he will defy his father yet and take a different position on the field......

We were watching baseball at the time, and I said to Alex, "Are you going to catch the ball?" Alex immediately squatted, and Andy was thrilled! So he grabbed the camera so we can show it off. :)

Haircut!

Tonight we finally broke down and decided that Alex NEEDED a haircut. His hair was getting very long in the front and tickling his ears on the sides. It also was pretty long in the back - so it was past due.

We decided to give him a sucker, because he rarely gets them. He usually doesn't eat them for too long, but we hoped tonight it would distract him enough that we could get it all done.

Needless to say, the sucker didn't work. We cried and screamed throughout pretty much the entire thing. So much so that Irene, the neighbor, came over and asked, "What are you doing to my baby?" We also had a few looks from Homer, who lives next to Irene......oh, well. At least we did it outside so they could see what was causing the screams. :)

Here's a shot of the handsome clean-cut man as he was getting a "drink" from the hose. Immediately after this shot, he ran through the stream, therefore washing off any loose hairs and completely soaking himself. And attracting any mosquitos that were in a 5-mile radius. (All of this rain has been good for us, but MAN the bugs are THICK now!!)

Mommy's Helper!

Good morning!

We've had an eventful morning already, and it's nearly 10! Alex has been attached to my leg all morning, except for the 15 minutes or so that he was in his high chair eating. Yesterday when we went to the store, Alex picked out some new cereal for himself, because the kind he had was nearly gone. He chose some Little Einstein's Fruit Stars, and he decided that he wanted to deviate from his usual bananas and toast and opt for his new cereal. This was one of his first times having milk on his cereal - and let's just say that the clothes he was wearing are now in the washing machine. :)

Here are a couple of shots of the cereal - first using the spoon -

Then he went back to "normal" - using the fingers. It's faster that way, right?!!

Then we needed to fold some towels and get them put away. While I was folding and putting them away in the bathroom, I gave Alex some of the kitchen towels to put away. He knows where they are, because they are in one of the few drawers he has access to. After the first one, he went running away and came back a couple of seconds later. I hadn't heard the drawer open or close, so I was a little curious, but gave him another couple of towels to "put away". As I walked back into the kitchen to begin my scavenger hunt, this is where I found all three of them.

Good thing I hadn't started dishes yet, otherwise they would now be in the laundry with the pajamas!! :)

Captain Cup Hands and Gait Training

Hello once again!

Alex was just hilarious today - always coming up with the craziest things to do and say! Tonight, as we were playing with his stacking cups, he put two of them on his hands and proceeded to walk around with the cups on his hands. Andy appropriately named him "Captain Cup Hands" - and here's a shot of the guy - it was the best I could get as he was ALWAYS in motion!!! :)

Then, Andy tried some of his Physical Therapy techniques on Alex. We've noticed that Alex seems to always walk and run with one arm swinging, the other locked at his side. Here's a video of Alex's "training" - and him running afterwards to see just how effective Andy was......

Well, at least the other arm isn't locked into his side anymore - now it's sticking straight out!! :)

Butter and Dancing.....

And how many eyebrows were raised with that title? :)

We have a video and a picture to share - all from this past weekend. This video is from Alex playing with his steering wheel - it has all sorts of sounds on it, but he loves the music especially. "Jimmy Crack Corn" will forever be etched in my mind.......but it is just hilarious to see this little man dance! Enjoy! :)

We had another video we were going to share of Alex chasing Squiggles while he had an oven mitt on his hand. Squiggles went to hide in our bedroom, under the blanket at the foot of our bed. She was "growling" at him, and he was mimicking her. It was really funny - BUT, the reason that it's not on here, it because you can barely hear the exchanges between Alex and Squiggles because ANDY is singing "No Place Like Home For The Holidays" in the kitchen......

I know, it's June. I gave up asking questions a long time ago.

And now to the picture - - all this week, Alex's breakfast of choice is toast and bananas. I've offered him many other things, but all he wants is toast and bananas. Toast actually sounds more like, 'tssssssssst' while pointing at the toaster - and bananas - well, I think that I have a post somewhere around here for how he says 'banana'. http://thebowins.blogspot.com/2008/03/banana.html

Anyway, he seems to like to lick the butter off of the top of the toast. So you can see just how greasy we are.....so instead of "stick, stick, stick" it's "squish, squish, squish". :)

Silly boy! :)

Take Me Out To The Ball Game....

Despite Mother Nature's best efforts, Andy and his guys were able to have a game last night. There was thunder and lightening around 3, and their game wasn't until 6. The lightening stopped, but the rain didn't. The guys played in the rain and wind - and played very well! I think that it was their best performance yet! :) The game was in Ord, so we didn't have that far to drive. We took two cars, because the Seniors game wasn't scheduled to begin until 8:30. (It was actually a little after that when the game finally started.)

All afternoon Alex kept looking out the windows and saying, "Daddy!" whenever car would drive by. So when we got to the game, Alex ran to see his Daddy. Because of the rain, we stayed in the covered dugout. I kept book for Andy, because there were always guys around to help keep Alex entertained while I did the book. Plus it gave Alex and Andy some time to hang out while the other team was at bat. :)

After a few innings of watching the guys, Alex had an idea.......




He kept pulling the helmet on and off of his head - and when he would lift it off, his triceps must not be strong enough yet because the helmet would go backwards. He would hang on, he just wasn't able to lift it. It was very funny. A few times he would put in on backwards and look at me through the little "vent holes" on the top. Silly guy! :)

It's even more baffling because when we go for a bike ride - he screams at the helmet - even when Mom and Dad are wearing theirs. Hats go about the same way (except for Grandpa's hats - he seems to want to wear those after a while). I don't get it, I only smile at him. :)

Dinner with Kyle!

Last night, one of Andy's college roommates was in Kearney for a Math conference. (Normally, he resides in Lincoln.) Since Kearney is an hour away, we all decided to meet for supper. There was a great BBQ place right by Kyle's hotel, so we ate there. "Skeeter Barnes" was the place - and we had eaten there once before in Council Bluffs, and were disappointed - but this one was outstanding! Highly recommended!

Here's a shot of Kyle and Alex after supper: (No, that was NOT a high chair!) :)

After supper we drove around for a while and then decided to get some dessert. We stopped at Cold Stone and that was super delicious! Kyle had never been there before, but I think it's now a favorite for him - I know we love it! :)

Then we drove around to look at some of the tornado damage from last week. There were anywhere between 4-6 tornadoes that blew through last Thursday, so we went around and saw a LOT of tree branches down, lots of store signs that were blown to pieces, and then the Buffalo County fairgrounds......

Amazingly, there were NO deaths throughout the entire thing - I can't imagine trying to pick up the pieces once everything you have has been destroyed.

Anyway, on a happier note- after the drive we went to Kyle's hotel room so Alex could run around for a while and we could change him into his pajamas. Alex was WIRED! We had Alex's soft baseball with us, and Alex and Kyle played HARD! I have never seen him laugh so hard with someone other than Andy or I. Maybe it was because he was way past bedtime, or because Kyle is just hilarious, but Alex had us all laughing.

Here's a shot of one of the "dull" moments of Kyle and Alex chilling. :) (Alex is about to throw the remote....)

Thanks, Kyle, for a great time! Happy Wednesday everyone! :)

Acta Update

I had my 4-month checkup this morning.....

Dr. Julie said that my measurements appeared that I was at week 20 or 21, not at 18. So now she is beginning to question just how far along I am. Also, we had a very difficult time finding the heartbeat. This was very scary for me, because I haven't been feeling Acta move as much as I think s/he should be. Maybe this is because Alex was a very active baby, and this one may just be more mellow - but it's also scaring me, because I am not for certain if I have felt the baby or not. Then when Dr. Julie couldn't find the heartbeat (I bet she tried for a good 10 minutes), that was again, very scary. The only thing that is reassuring me right now is that the placenta still had a pulse - and she said that if the placenta didn't have a pulse, then she would be extremely worried.

So she scheduled my ultrasound for as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the earliest "non-emergency" time they could get me in is on the 16th. However, if I begin bleeding or have severe cramping, I am to call and they can get me in right away. Dr. Julie said that it's a good thing because my blood pressure is still relatively low (122/80), and I haven't had any bleeding so far. She said that if I had one or the other of those, then she would push for an earlier time/date.

So that's the latest word. With the ultrasound she also wants to see just how far along I am - so maybe November 2 isn't the due date! I said that gauging the way that Alex was, this baby will be born December 28! :) (For those of you that don't know, Alex was due October 14, and I was FINALLY induced on the 30th - the nurse had written by due date wrong on the Dr.'s paperwork....!)

Say a little prayer for all of us, please! And pray for peace and patience for me until the 16th!

Fun In The Yard!

First of all - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREAT-GRANDMA BOBBI and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GRANDMA LE AND GRANDPA DAVE!! :)

OK, let me give you fair warning - this may be picture overload - - but I don't think that I will hear any complaints, because they are almost ALL of Alex - - enjoy! :)

Andy needed to mow the yerd tonight, because the grass was reaching "we'll lose something" level because of all of the rain. So while Andy worked, Alex and I went out for "moral support". Andy also needed to spray the weeds in the back, so he got the hose out and began working on all of the weeds. Alex found a fun running game (I know, who thinks that running is actually FUN??), where I would count "1, 2, 3, GO!" and he would take off running back and forth on the sidewalk. Here's a shot of him running.

Then he noticed that I had my camera phone out, and seemed to want me to take a picture of him. I took one, and then he took off running. By the time he got back, I had put my phone down, but he pointed at it and acted like he wanted me to take another shot of him. Here are the succession of shots that we have.....they can pretty much speak for themselves.......

Then Daddy came over and began getting a drink out of the hose. Guess who wanted to try it? It wasn't nearly as 'dry' as Daddy's drink, as you can tell from this picture.....HE WAS SOAKED!!!

Andy also found an "interesting" plant while he was spraying....this plant was TRIPLE sprayed!!!

BUSY Weekend!

We had a fairly crazy weekend! The Bowin grandparents made it out our way on Friday night, so we were able to spend the weekend with them.

On Saturday, Andy had two games against Broken Bow in Sargent. The guys played well, but Broken Bow got on a roll and didn't stop. (They also played VERY dirty, in my opinion!) Alex had fun walking around the field, looking at the "bobs" that were there, playing with his outdoor toys (thanks, Aunt Elly), and looking (staring) at younger "babies". He also "dropped" his fever Saturday evening, which I was very thankful for. He must have just had a bug or something - but if we didn't do the tylenol/ibuprofin every two hours, you could tell! Yay for getting better!

Sunday was the beginning of Sargent's annual Chokecherry Jamboree and fair days. They have a pancake feed every year, and they ask the Teacher's Association to serve every year. Andy loves the sausage, and Alex loves pancakes, so we all went over. They also have a park there, so Alex enjoyed playing on that with his grandparents.

Here's Grandpa Bowin helping Alex get his shoes on.

Everyone at the park.

WHEEE!!

And a nice picture before they had to go.

Alex was absolutely exhausted! He fell asleep in the short 30 minute drive BOTH to and from Sargent, as well as in the car on the way to Gibbon last night for another two baseball games. Andy's guys played well again, but fell short. They are impoving with every game, so that is encouraging. They really struggle with pitching, so once they get that all figured out, I think that they will do really well.

Alex also slept the entire way home from Gibbon, even though we drove through a mid-Nebraska hurricane. The rain was blowing so hard that it was almost impossible to see the edges of the road - but we made it home safely. Now it's on to another week - Alex slept in until 8:15 this morning, and took a fairly good nap this morning. He's now munching on pizza, and I am trying to catch up on laundry.

Have a great week everyone! :)

Go With Daddy to Work Day

At least that's what Alex thought!

This morning when he woke up, he had soaked through his diaper, so we went to change him. He was not in the mood to get dressed (he's had a bit of a fever the past couple of days - could be more teeth?!??), so we left him in his diaper and let him run around.

Andy went to put on his shoes so he could leave for work, and here comes "little Andy" carrying his shoes. He is adamant that his shoes NEED to be on, so Andy put his shoes on. It was hilarious! Fortunately, we took some pictures so you can enjoy as well. :)


He thought that he REALLY was going with Andy - he even tried to head out the door with him!

"Uh, Mr. Boss Man Jeff, Alexander decided that he was going to come to work with me today. Don't worry, the nursing home patients will LOVE how cute he is - and you don't have to worry about him running in front and tripping any of them. If he does, well, I can then pick them up for therapy for the next few months. So, is that okay?"

Yeah, right. Jeff would LOVE that.......

On a somewhat similar note, when all three of us (or even just Alex with one of us) are looking at pictures, every time Alex sees Andy, he says, "Daddy". If there is a picture of Alex and I, he will say, "Mommy and Daddy" - I keep saying, "That's Alex." It's just funny how Alex sees Andy when looking at pictures. He did know quite a few other people, though, without much prompting....Grandpa, Grandma, "AuShhh" - that was Aunt Sarah, and every time he saw his cousin, Noah, he said, "Bob" and held his arms like he didn't know where Bob was. He does seem to know that Noah and Bob go together......how funny!! :)

Plain Red Soup

Hello from another dreary Nebraska day - the heaters ARE back on, as it only reached 46 here today, and sun isn't in the forecast until Thursday afternoon sometime. I'm beginning to think that God doesn't want Andy's team playing baseball..... :) Perfect day for soup..... :)

Tonight for supper we had Plain Red Soup (tomato soup for the rest of the world) and grilled cheese sandwiches. *Here's the story behind "Plain Red Soup" - I am NOT a fan of tomatoes - I like ketchup, cocktail sauce, pasta sauces, etc., but I do NOT like tomatoes. I will pick them out of chunky chili or sauces, and do not eat them "fresh" out of the garden (yes, I have tried them with both salt/pepper and with sugar). I've never liked them, I don't know why. So I think that my Mom came up with "Plain Red Soup" in an effort to get me to eat it. It worked, and I like it, but still call it plain red soup. (Yes, Grandma, Alex is free to eat tomatoes - he actually LOVES them - he and Andy can have them!!) :)

So as we were getting supper ready, the sandwiches had just came off of the griddle. They were still pretty toasty, so Andy was cooling it off with his spatula. Alex decided to help "fan" it off.....it's hilarious!! :)

Once Alex had successfully cooled all of his food off, it was time to pray and then eat. WHAT A MESS!! He hasn't had much luck with the spoon, but he did manage to get some of it into his mouth. Unfortunately, his chin, shirt, elbow, fingers, ear, nose, eyebrow, and cheek were all in the way, so they all got soup on them, too. He did seem to enjoy it, though!

Then it was off to the bath. What a messy boy! Daddy and Alex had fun with his bath tonight - when I went in to see what all of the giggling was about, they BOTH had soaked heads! Andy was still in his work clothes, so it was quite funny! At least they had fun - my bathroom will dry eventually! :) Here he is "pre-cleaning" :)

Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Memorial Day everyone! (And Happy Birthday to Grandma Annette!)

We have had a busy weekend at home! Andy's ball games were cancelled Friday night because of all of the rain - so we spent extra "Daddy time" - which we always love!

We had leftover lasagna - and this time we stripped Alex down to his diaper. You can still see the mess! :) There STILL is a cute boy under all that mess!

We also did some yard work. We wanted to get more fertilizer on the lawn, but the grass needed to be a little damp, so we turned the sprinklers on for a few minutes. When we went outdoors to check them out, Alex acted like he wanted to feel the water, too. When I bent over to show him how to do it, he seemed to get the idea......

Maybe not!

And then today - we have done some major cleaning out, de-cluttering, etc. so our garbage can was quite full. The garbage guys come on Mondays (holiday or not), and it was exceptionally windy this morning. Andy grabbed a tarp strap to try to hold the lid down to prevent fly-away garbage. The tarp strap had a different idea....

OUCH!!

Then we went up to the lake to grill out for lunch. It was a little breezy, but it was nice to be outside and watch the water. We did see a four-foot bull snake (eeewwww!), luckily it stayed quite a ways away. We drove around for a while, and then came back home. Steak is what's for supper - and then baths! Hope you all had a great weekend!!

For Aunt Elly....

And for everyone else to enjoy (Elly has just commented on how much she would like to hear Alex talking some of his "Japanese").

Andy and Alex were playing ball in the living room (which is an absolute PIT - I can't believe how many toys the child has - and how he can make such a mess in NO time!!!) - and Andy would throw the ball to Alex, and he would make some statement after Andy threw it at him.

We only get two rounds of "talking" - then he tripped on some of the toys laying on the ground. So as this video uploads, we are cleaning!! :) If anyone can understand what he is saying, please clue us in! :)

Enjoy!

Yummy!

Hello all!

Well, we have survived the monsoon of central Nebraska. It rained from about midnight on Wednesday/Thursday until early Saturday morning. Most of Friday was a downpour - and there was lightening and thunder to complete the entire picture. It was forecasted to rain all weekend, and this morning, it looked like the skies could open up at any second. But, then the sun came out, and it's 80 here now! Crazy Nebraska weather! (I finally had to turn the HEATERS back on yesterday, because the high was 50!) I hope they are OFF for at least a few months now!

Our town is having it's annual ExtraORDinary days - a carnival comes to town, there are all sorts of free meals (there was a free hot dog feed on the courthouse lawn at noon today - a fly-in breakfast at the airport tomorrow, and a catered BBQ tomorrow afternoon), and lots of fun things to do. Andy had to work this morning, so we went downtown (it's only two blocks away, for those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting Ord) for some ice cream and to check out the rides. Most of them were geared towards older kids, but Alex was content to watch everyone else enjoy the rides. We sat on a park bench for a while under a nice shade tree and ate some ice cream. It was a really nice afternoon.

Then tonight - pregnant momma was craving lasagna, so that's what we had for supper. It wasn't quite as good as my mommy's, but it was definitely good. Alex really enjoyed it too, he had almost two full pieces, as well as most of a slice of cheesy garlic bread. YUM-O!! :)

My first full week at home with Alex was wonderful! It's amazing how his language is expanding every day! It seems like he is getting two or three new words every day - and attempting to say many others! Tonight I opened up a window that Squiggles like to sit in front of, so I called her name as I opened it. Alex was trying to say her name, and ran to all of her usual hiding places, calling her name the whole time. I'm amazed.

We've attached a video close to the time he was finished eating, and I tried to get him to say some of the words he knows, as well as a few new ones. "Bye-bye" is a new one - although he has been waving goodbye for months. Enjoy!

One other thing that Andy and I noticed today - as we were talking about his new tooth - we realized that we were NOT talking about the same place in his mouth. Insisting that I was correct (and Andy insisting that HE was correct), we found out that we BOTH were right. The little man is pushing through two top MOLARS towards the back, on either side. I think they are molars anyway - they are pretty close to the back of his mouth. Both sides have a little tip showing through. So, for those of you that are counting - the front top two and bottom front two have been in for months. There is one coming in on the top right - immediately next to his front two teeth. Then there are two other recently discovered "tips", both on the top, on either side.

My question is, "Is this 'normal'?" I know that every kid gets their teeth on their own schedules, but is it weird that he is getting molars (or at least back teeth) before the front ones have shown themselves? I guess I am already worried that there won't be room for them all! (Just one more thing I worry about - I know, I need to quit worrying!) Anyone else's kids been through a similar scenario? Thanks!! :)