She's FINALLY arrived!!!

McKenzie Carter Owens decided to make her appearance last night at 7:32 p.m. I guess she heard that the weather was going to be "cooler" this week and that would work better for her good hair days. According to Uncle Bebo and Kari's mom, McKenzie weighed 7lbs. 7oz. and her length is 21 and something. I didn't know that "and something" was an actual measurement, so I'll try to clarify that today. I do have some pictures, but none that truly show how beautiful my niece is since she was so tightly bundled up. Hopefully, I'll get some better ones today to share.

I have to add that ME was a trooper hanging out at the hospital for so long, too. She didn't turn crazy until after 8:00 (she turns kind of silly-delirious past her bedtime). But as soon as she saw her Lala pick up another baby, the meltdown began. So I guess we'll be scoping out babies all over the place for me and others that are so close to ME to hold in front of her before Little Peanut arrives.

I am so excited that I'm an aunt now and am thankful that everything went well for Brant, Kari, and McKenzie. How exciting!!!

ME's 18-month checkup

ME had her well-baby checkup today and I found out that she's still doing well! The Dr. told me to not start potty-training her until she's 2. But Drew and I beg to differ since she's so fascinated with the potty anyway. We might start in the near future before Little Peanut arrives. Any tips for little girls?

Her stats:
Weight: 27 lbs. (83%)
Head: 18 3/8" (48%)
Length: 32 3/4 (80%)

Drew was worried about her weight %age, but the Dr. said it was much more proportional to her height this time compared to her last visit. And I can't believe that her head is so "small"!

I passed

I'm now 24 weeks pregnant and I went for my monthly checkup yesterday. Getting ready for this appointment was torture because I had to do my glucola test to see if I had gestational diabetes, which means that I couldn't eat carbs all day since my appointment wasn't until 3:00 and then get pricked with a needle (aren't the doctors nice?). I usually have crackers by 10 a.m., plus I worked at my church's VBS this week and the United Methodist Women provided yummo snacks. I, of course, tended to go toward the sweets all week. On the plus side, I passed my test and found out that I'm not anemic anymore! Sianora iron pills!!!!

As for a baby update...Little Peanut (thanks, Lauren, for texting that name to me a few weeks ago) is approximately the size of an ear of corn and his heartbeat yesterday was 148. Drew and I still can't agree on a name for him. And his mommy (that's me, in case you were wondering) has apparently gained 16.5 pounds since the last checkup a month ago. The Dr. and I honestly think that the wrong number was written down last time. I forgot to look at the scale since ME was there with me last time, too...lesson learned for future visits! If not, then that means that my Dr. only wants me to gain 8 more lbs from now until delievery. Can someone please explain that to my stomach?!?!

As for a niece-to-be update...Brant and Kari's little McKenzie heard the weather report and has decided that the heat is not for her. She was expected to arrive on Tuesday, but she didn't want to take the focus away from Drew's birthday. Isn't she sweet? So now if she's not here by next Wednesday, they'll induce Kari. Hey, Kari, at least you weren't preggers the summer of 80! Ha!

Happy Birthday, Dada!

ME trying to show her daddy how to blow the candles.

ME and I had birthday dinner with Scrooge, er, uhh....Drew tonight. I think this is the first time out of the 11 years we've been together that we actually got to spend it alone. It's funny how everyone else is more excited for Drew's bday than he is. Let me tell you that I'm really looking forward to him turning the big 3-0 next year. Ha! Anyway, we love you and am happy to tell you Happy 29!

Despite the cake decorating, the cupcake still tasted the same as shown by ME. She woke up right when I started to ice the cupcakes, then the icing got too warm and melted off. I think I should win the messiest cake award. :)

ME got dressed up for her daddy all by herself. She finally figured out how to put her shoes on today by herself. Don't pay attention to them being on the wrong feet, though. A few hours later, she found a pair that was 2 sizes too small that she wanted to wear as well.

Mission 1 accomplished

First of all, I want to say Happy Father's Day to my daddy and ME's daddy. How lucky am I to know such 2 great daddies?

Secondly, ME is a year and a half today! Wow, that sounds old! But I guess she is a big kid now since she's been going without a paci for 2 weeks tomorrow. Yeah!!!!!!!! Of course, I've been tempted a few times to "put a plug in it" during naptime, but I've been strong. Now if we can just get back to just laying her down and she falls right asleep instead of throwing a screaming fit after Drew or I walk out of her room at night. Surely she'll remember to do that again soon.

I have a whole list of things I want to accomplish with her this summer such as the paci, attempt potty training (I'll take any tips btw), moving her to a big girl bed, and getting her to talk to Bebo. I know that doing all of these might be pretty ambitious, on top of trying to grow my Deesgins by Erin business and my little boy inside me, but I feel pretty good that I can mark the paci off of the list!

Other than the paci, I don't have many updates to report just yet since we don't go for her well-baby checkup until later this week.

Words:

• She said her first sentence this weekend("Right there"). I know it's only two words, but it's progress.


• With the Razorbacks being in the College World Series this past week, she saw a lot of Hogs and says "Wooo" everytime she sees one now. It's funny the way she says it too, because it sounds like she's being sarcastic.

Things she's doing:

• She's getting good practice with another baby coming on board. She is starting to carry a baby doll by the neck underneath her arm like a football. Sweet and gentle, I know!
• Trying to ride on Dixie and Mo.
• She thinks that Dixie is playing chase with her (but actually Dix is just sleeping and ME is running away and giggling.)
• Lovin' the wa-wer (water).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some pictures of our 18-month-old munchkin.

Her favorite breakfast is cereal bars. Did you know that fruit makes a wonderful facial cream and hair gel as well?

She loves to rock and now "reads" her name everytime she sits in her chair.

School's out for summer!!!

So I know I'm a little behind in announcing that exciting news, but summer vacay is finally here and we've been sooooooo busy for just one week that I haven't had energy to write/blog. Before I blog about our summer happenings, though, I must first talk about the fun things that my 3rd graders did before we ended the year (of course, ME was included in them).

FIELD TRIPS

For the rainy month of May, we scheduled 2 OUTDOOR field trips for our 3rd graders. The 1st one was to Pinnacle Mtn. and it got rained out, so we had movie day in the classroom. Any good teacher knows how to adapt and adjust! Luckily, the 2nd field trip was a success. We headed to the zoo and I'm so appreciative of my mom and Anna Carol for tagging along! My kids were so excited that ME and Mason were there too. I have some cute pix of my students helping with our kiddos, but I'm not posting for security reasons. This trip to the zoo was so much more fun than last year with ME since she was able to identify the animals and their noises, although she got confused and said that most of them mooed or growled.

I'm ready to see how many animals moo!

I had to show her greasy hair. This shot is just proof that I put sunblock all over her! Maybe I put a little too much, though. :)

ME and Mason are moving to Green Acres!

Conductor Mason and Anna Carol

TALENT SHOW

Each year, our school puts on a talent show the last week of school. I may be bias, but the 3rd graders usually have the best talent. ;) This year was definitely the best routine, by far! My co-worker, Amanda, actually called me last summer to tell me that she wanted to do Michael Jackson's "Thriller" for the show. The dancer in me thought about it for about half a second and said OK! So for the last month of school, we rehearsed every afternoon. Obviously, it wasn't as detailed as the real deal, but I was very impressed with our kids' hard work! They worked so hard that my mom and ME even came to watch! Hope you enjoy our version of "Thriller"! Just don't pay any attention to me...I'm just telling them when to go.