Stick 'em up!

Halloween has never been anywhere close to my favorite holiday. I engaged in a few "harvest parties" growing up, but I can honestly say that I have never in my life been trick or treating. Sad isn't? Not to worry, I'm sure there will be many years ahead of me of great trick or treating fun. While Ian has yet to discover the joy of candy, he did like his costume this year (well, all but the hat). Here's my little sheriff!

That beautiful butterfly you see beside him is his sweet cousin Avery. I think she was trying to sweet talk him into leaving his hat on, but alas, he wouldn't do it, not even for her.

His cousin Wyatt was flying around somewhere, too. As a ninja, he was sometimes hard for the camera to catch.

Ian absolutely adores his cousins and tries so hard to do what they do. They are both so great with him - they play with him, let him follow them, and they never mind that he wants to go to everywhere they go and do everything they do. We couldn't ask for better cousins!

A first for Ian

Today was a first for Ian...he got a haircut! I've been debating for weeks as to whether I really wanted him to have it cut. I love his little curls and I knew that if we cut his hair, the curls would go...permanently. But, I'd finally had enough. The curls were coming out less often and most of the time his hair was just long and stringy looking. So, I bit the bullet and took him to see Mr. Will at Kuts 4 Kids today.

I'd like to say it went well and he enjoyed it, but alas, I cannot. He cried. Through the entire haircut. I'm gonna blame it on the three kids before him that screamed bloody murder when it was their turn. At least he had fun playing with all the toys in the waiting room while he waited for his turn on the tractor seat.

Here's a before shot (about ready to release the floodgates):

Here's a shot somewhere in the middle...crying, of course:

Almost done...the big scary man at least isn't touching me!

And here's the final product! I think he's saying "mom, he's still next me! What is he going to do next?!?! Leave me alone!"

All better now...goldfish help everything!

No more stringy hair!!! Although, I will say that I am going to miss those cute little curls :(
Such a big boy now. Sigh.

Drum roll please...

Many of you (okay the two of you that follow my blog) may have wondered why I was absent from my blog for so long. Well, it was all for good reason. I was EXHAUSTED. Why???? Because we are EXPECTING a new little bundle of joy!!!

That's right! Ian is going to be a big brother - a great one, I'm sure! He still isn't too excited about it, but we are!

I am due  around the 13th of May (which makes me almost 14 weeks along), but little Baby E will be born sometime the week before. With our crazy April/May schedule I'm actually looking forward to the c-section so I can get everything scheduled in. Yes, I know, type A personality coming through, but you'd feel the same way! My brother and sister-in-law are due April 26th with their first child. My baby sister graduates from high school on May 18th, and my brother Sterling is getting married on May 24th. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about it!!

I'll leave you with this last shot of Ian slightly more excited (at least he's not crying) about his impending status as big brother.

Shake, rattle, and shake some more

Earthquake!!!!

That is what I woke up to at 2:15am this past Saturday. Really? In Oklahoma? Yes, we have earthquakes, and pretty frequently at that, but not this kind of earthquake. This kind of earthquake had Brett and I bolting upright in our bed. At first I thought Brett was just being ornery and shaking the bed, then I quickly realized there's no way he would take a chance at waking me up in the middle of the night just to play a prank. I am CRANKY when I get woken up and I'm not ready to be awake. He had to  learn that the hard way :). While my mind frantically tried to wake up and make sense of what was going on, the other part of my brain was desperately trying to figure out if I needed to rush upstairs and get Ian. Before I could clear my head, it was over. Phew. Potential disaster averted. At least for the next 22 hours.

That's right. We had our second earthquake a little before 11pm that Saturday night. We had just settled into bed after watching OSU beat KState when the bed started to shake. Again. This time it was much harder and much longer. While the first was a decent sized earthquake (4.7), this one rang it at 5.6. I was sure this one was going to knock stuff off the wall, but thankfully, we seem to have escaped unscathed.

Then last night came. We did not have any earthquakes, but we did have severe thunderstorms. Thunderstorms that caused me to wake up yelling "earthquake!" every time I heard thunder. I think Brett really appreciated it.

Now we come to tonight. Earthquake!!! Another one hit just before 9pm - this one a measly 4.7. It's my third one in as many days, so, no biggie.

I will admit, the first one was a little unnerving because it was so unexpected and I had never experienced one before. But it was also soooooo COOL. I've always wanted to feel what an earthquake was like, but without all the destruction (like the ones in California). So I have to admit I was a little excited. Then the second one came. That one was definitely a little bit scarier because it was so much stronger, but it was also awesome because I wasn't half asleep so I knew what was going on immediately and I got to experience it completely. Tonight's was...well, blah. Been there, done that, ready to move on.

I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Manic Mondays

I've never been one of those people who hates Mondays...that is until two weeks ago. I was following our typical Monday morning routine; I had Ian dressed, fed, and ready to head out the door by 8:45 for our typical Monday activity. I loaded him up in his carseat, threw the car in reverse, and backed out into the driveway. Huh. That was weird. The car was driving funny. I got out and circled around. Sure enough, my tire was on the RIM. Yikes.

I quickly called my hubby who immediately left work to come take care of my completely deflated tire. As soon as I got off the phone with Brett, I dialed up my father-in-law to see if we could borrow his car that morning. He brought the car over in under 10 minutes and  stayed at the house while Ian and I jetted off to Ian's favorite activity - music class!

To make a very long story short, Brett, his dad, and uncle were unable to get the tire off and the spare on because of some special lock Lexus puts on tires so they can't be stolen. They aired the tire up, drove to Hibdon's, where they were unable to get the lock off as well. Next stop, Lexus dealership. They WERE able to get the tire off, only to find that the tire could not be fixed. Why? There was a pocket knife blade completely imbedded in the tire. Of all the luck. Four new tires for me...all I want for Christmas are four new tires, four new tires. Yeah, right.

The funny thing is, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I have nothing to complain about. I was not driving and Ian was not in the car when the tire went completely flat. We could've been in a wreck and injured. Our Monday activities were resumed with little interference. We missed the first 10 minutes of class, but Ian didn't notice or care. I have a wonderful father-in-law who rushed over just so his grandson could go play music. He even had his brother meet him at our house so we didn't have to spend extra time taking him back home. Then they both stayed to help Brett change the tire  (or try to change the tire). Sure the tires cost more than a house payment, but I'm always reminded that God provides. And He did.

I am so incredibly blessed that God was watching over us and protected us from potential harm - that our tire went flat in the garage instead of on a highway. I am blessed because I have the most fantastic in-laws that live less than 10 minutes away and are willing to help with anything. I am blessed because I have a wonderful husband who spent all day dealing with the tire debacle. I am blessed because my car was fixed in a day (unlike my poor neighbor who had tire trouble just after me and was on a donut for several days). I am blessed because God provides. I am blessed because my God is Great.

So, I guess Monday's and I are still on good terms.