Welcome Baby Harrison

After four boys, Chris finally gave in and let Heather have a girl. She is a dainty little 6 pound 1 ounce, 18 inch long beauty.

Congratulations to the whole Egan clan!

Welcome Baby Lucas

Congratulations Emily and Matthew!

My freind and teaching colleague, Emily, gave birth to sweet little baby Lucas on 12/23. He came in at 21 1/2 inches and weighing 7 pounds 15 ounces. I can't wait to kiss that sweet little head full of red hair, just like her mommy's hair.

Good news and bad news:

Good news: Matthew was able to come home from Iraq long enough for the baby to be born.
Bad news: He has to leave tomorrow to go back and won't be able to come home for 9 months.

Emily is a very strong and structured lady (a math teacher if that tells you anything, very different from us English teachers) and I know she will be fine. However, I can't imagine my husband not being around to help with the kids. Honestly, he is one of the most hands on fathers I've ever known. Also, I can't imagine missing the first 9 months of my child's life.

Question: What were your favorite memories of the first 9 months of your child/children's lives?

Aiden: Napping with him on the couch. He was not a huge sleeper so any extra minutes were divine.

Audrey: Watching her react to music around her. She loved watching Dancing with the Stars with me. The bright colors of the costumes and the rhythmic music entranced her.

Did anyone catch the plates on that train?

I mean the one carrying this virus that has railroaded our house?

It started with the two kids then grabbed Travis at 12:35 a.m. New Year's Day then pulled me on board 24 hours later. Aiden had it easiest and Audrey has had it the worst.

I am on the caboose so the end is in sight. Holiday pictures will be next.

Choo choo!

Tuesday Tell All Catch Up

Christmases Long Long Ago: I loved having my grandparents spend the night on Christmas Eve. Granny would sleep with me and Papa would sleep in Billy's room, putting him on the couch. They would be at our house to see what Santa left for us then pack up and go. After church we'd go to their house for dinner and gifts. After dinner we'd play games and eat dessert. Fun times!

Greatest gift: The greatest gift I gave this year was the carousel that Papaw wanted for his village which has quickly morphed into a city. Aiden picked it out for him. The greatest material gifts I recieved was from our parents: a dishwasher and a leaf sucker/blower. However the best gift I got was the picket fence smiles from my two little sweeties. I loved seeing their excitement with the gifts and who can resist the bed hair in Christmas morning pictures! They have been getting along so well lately and that is the best gift ever.

Don't Ask Me, I Just Pay the Mortgage!

Needless to say I got a good belly laugh when I found this scenario in the kitchen the other day. No one will fess up to "uniting" Pooh and the frog in this position. Aiden and Travis said they didn't do it but I am not sure if I believe that for a second.

I never would have pegged these two as a match for each other but opposites do attract, you know. I guess we all need to get a little lovin' from time to time!

Happy New Year, y'all!

The cherry on top...

both Aiden and Audrey are throwing up with a stomach flu. Travis is next in line with stomach cramps and I imagine I'll be following that road shortly. There goes our New Year's plans. On the bright side, I would rather blow noses that get puked on one more time.

Normally I am not one to complain but I really feel so much better after getting my top 7 off my chest. Every now and then you just need to let it all go. Usually I am the one who is last to take down the tree and other decorations. And I did have some wonderful times with my family and freinds this year. I guess you can't have the Norman Rockwell Christmas every year and it was my turn to have the Charlie Brown Christmas this year.

Who wants to claim it for next year?

Just call me Scrooge

Although I thoroughly enjoyed being with my family and friends, I am SO OVER the holidays! I will post pictures of the holidays tomorrow but here are the top 10 reasons I am ready to be done with December:

1. Both our cars went in the shop within a week of each other, really tightening the old pursestraps.
2. Neither of my kids are sleeping through the night. Once I get one down the other is awake. Maybe it is because the idea of Santa had them wacked out hyper all month. When the kiddos aren't sleepin ain't nobody sleepin! (Needless to say Aiden woke up while I was writing this post so I had to save it an come back.)
3. Both Aiden and Audrey have had the worst runny noses this month. I am over trying to chase Aiden down to blow his nose. Audrey on the other hand actually likes it but I don't care if I ever blow another nose again! Plus it makes them cough all night, which may be a contributing factor to the not sleeping thing.
4. When I got out my tree this year, about half of the spots where the limbs connect were broken. So our tree looked like poo since there were mostrous gaps everywhere. I wanted to throw up every time I saw that ugly thing.
5. Aiden and Audrey kept taking off the ornaments that were on the tree. Aiden would take ones he liked back to his room and Audrey would just take them off the tree to look at them, tell me "pretty," then lay them back on the tree.
6. I don't get out of school until Friday the 21st this year! What is that about?
7. I volunteered to have Christmas dinner at my house this year so that the kids could play with their new things at home(Ultimately I did't feel like lugging home all their new gear for the third night in a row). That meant that I needed to clean the house amongst all the Christmas maddness and cook the dinner.


Today Travis and I shuttled the kids off and cleaned the heck out of our house, erasing any evidence of the crazy month that has passed. The ghetto tree is waiting to be picked up and I can breathe deeply again.


Here's Aiden again...so I'll leave it at the top 7. Sorry about the complaining but now that it;s out of my system I can appreciate the goodness that is my family and our future.