Pumpkin Patch

Last week for preschool we talked about pumpkins so we went to a pumpkin patch for a field trip. There were lots of different things for the kids to do.
At the end, the kids got to go on a pumpkin hunt. They found clues and finally found their pumpkins (and candy...let the tough decay begin for the holiday season:).
Like the overalls? I thought is was fitting for the day but we are retiring them after this...too Texan for Chris and I:)

This one is much tamer.

Bucking Piggy!

Trying to see the animals in the petting area

First clue on their pumpkin hunt

Holding the pumpkin he found and the bag of candy.

FHE

For Family Home Evening tonight we made Halloween sugar cookies and frosted them. Matthew loved licking the beaters. He thought is was so fun to frost the cookies and put Sixlets and M&Ms on his cookie.

Letter of the Day

Matthew wearing the Letter of the Day at Preschool.

Allison's 2 Month Measurements

I took Allison in on Thursday for her two month check-up and she got some shots. I am really glad I didn't go in a week earlier because if I had, Allison would have had to get 5 shots and one oral but they just got a shot in that was a 3-in-1, so Allison only had to get poked 3 times and then she also got the oral. It was about time for her to eat so she sucked it right down. The nurse was quite impressed with her. Here are her measurements:
Weight: 12 lbs
Height: 22.5 inches
In six weeks she gained about 4 pounds! She is definitely filling out and getting chunky.

Click on this collage to make it bigger!!

New Orleans Trip (Pics Added)

A few more pictures added for those of you that have already read this book.

THIS IS EXTREMELY LONG!!!
Disclaimer: There are probably a lot of details in here that you don't really need but I am writing it down now so that I won't forget. By the time I actually get around to putting this in our scrapbook, I am sure I will have forgotten a lot of details so sorry you have to suffer.

Chris had a paper to present at a conference in New Orleans last weekend. We have known about this for many months and I wanted to go with him since I had never been to New Orleans before. I thought it would be a fun family vacation. We knew we would have a 2 month old but didn't think she would be much a of problem. Chris was presenting his paper on Saturday afternoon so our plan was to leave Friday, spend one night in New Orleans and leave as soon as Chris was done with his presentation on Saturday. It is about an 8 hour drive to New Orleans. We mentioned our plans to our friends and they suggested that Matthew just stay with them. Jami said that Joseph would love to have Matthew there for a "sleep over". I didn't think we would actually be able to do that but when I told Chris that Jami suggested leaving Matthew here, Chris was all for it. I couldn't believe that we had friends that would actually watch Matthew for numerous hours on end. We thought only family would do something like that.
Chris works at Blinn Community College and mentioned to his boss that he was going to present a paper and he informed Chris that Blinn would most likely reimburse him for his expenses. Chris was very surprised at hearing this because Chris was going from Texas A&M University so A&M would be the school that got recognition not Blinn. However, Chris turned his expense proposal which was over $600 and surprisingly Blinn said they would cover it. Since the conference was being held at the Sheraton we got a discounted rate so it was only $125 a night!!! Can you believe that? Anyways, as it got closer to the time to go we started thinking about maybe staying Saturday night as well and just coming back Sunday so that we could enjoy New Orleans a little more. However, we didn't want to pay $125 a night out of our own pockets since Chris only asked Blinn to cover one night. However, Wednesday before we left a professor at A&M told Chris that he would cover any expenses Blinn wouldn't. That night we booked another night at the hotel. That meant that we would be gone from Matthew for 3 days. We were leaving around 10am Friday morning and we wouldn't be home until Sunday night. I didn't think that was quite fare to the Hansens to leave Matthew with them for 3 days so I called the Trousdales to see if they would be willing to take Matthew on Friday, then take him to the Hansens on Saturday so that neither one of them had him for 3 days. I was so worried that Matthew would want his mommy, I wouldn't be there and he would think that we abandoned him. That was my biggest fear.
I still can't believe that my friends were so willing to watch Matthew for so long!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
We ended up leaving Friday around 11am once Chris finished his German test. It took us eight hours to get there, which went by pretty quickly. It was very interesting to see that damage that was still visible from Hurricane Ike. We saw workers trying to cut down trees and by the looks of it, they had been doing that for a long time and they still have many more miles to go. There were many buildings destroyed and numerous signs that needed repaired or completely replaced. We kept wondering what it all looked like before the Hurricane.
After about six years of marriage Chris learned something pretty amazing about me:
I don't like lots and lots of water, especially when I am above it. We drove on numerous bridges over lakes and rivers. It was so weird, we would be driving on the road/bridge and there would be lots and lots of trees on both sides but you couldn't actually see the base of the trees. They were all in water. Water was everywhere. It seems like those trees would drown but they are not drowning. To me it looked like the whole place was flooded but I really think that is just how it is. However, I really do think that they built a bridge on of a river. You came down a hill and the road split so that there was space in between each side of the interstate. In the middle there was water and on the sides of the interstate were trees. This time I could see the ground or base of the trees. They weren't in water but the road was literally built on water the whole way. I don't know if it was cheaper to build a road on water or the river the whole way so they didn't have to bulldoze trees or if it was that they were trying to preserve trees. It was really creepy to me. The part that I didn't like the most was when we were going over the Mississippi River and we had to go so high in the air since big ships pass under that bridge it needed to be really high. I really had a problem with it. I would shiver every time we got back on land.
Side note: Chris was extremely surprised at this because when we went on our honeymoon to Hawaii we went on a big boat out in the water and I was OK. When the boat stopped at a place and let us jump into the water I was very terrified of jumping in, most likely because I am not a good swimmer. If anything were to happen I don't know if I would be able to swim my way to safety. So jumping into the ocean was quite scary. I had every kind of floating device the boat had, strapped around me or I was hugging very tight before I jumped in. After many minutes of thinking about it I did finally jump in. When we were on the boat though, I didn't have a problem.
I think I figured my problem out though, when I am above water i.e. bridges I am so worried of falling down, down, down, into the water but when I am on a boat I am essentially already in the water so it doesn't scare me as much. Chris says I just need to take swimming lessons to become a better swimmer and maybe my fear will go away. I was actually surprised myself how much it freaked me out to be above the water just driving and seeing water all around. Very interesting experience for myself.

The Sheraton is definitely not a hotel we typically stay in. We had to do valet parking, there was no other option. That was the first sign of us feeling out of our league. Since we hadn't eaten dinner yet and it was getting late, we didn't know where to go so we just went to the hotel restaurant. We about died when the cheapest thing they had was $17 and that was for a chicken sandwich the rest was seafood which is obviously more expensive. Chris and I figured we would just split something and since I don't like seafood, that was our only option. It was very interesting to see and listen to how the waiter's demeanor changed when Chris said that we were just going to split the chicken sandwich and have waters. The tone of his voice changed, like "you cheap people". Chris really enjoyed the chicken sandwich, he said it had some local sauce on it that made it really good.
We stayed on the 15th floor but our hotel had 49 floors in it. Our windows were full length so we could see the cars right below us. I thought it was cool but Chris didn't like it since he is somewhat scared of heights. He didn't like walking right up to the window and look straight down.
That night, I put Allison in my sling and we started walking outside to see what the city was like. We walked down a little while and then realized that it probably wasn't the safest to be walking around so we headed back to our hotel. I really felt uneasy around the people that were just standing next to the building doing nothing, or the big groups of people that we had to go around.
Saturday morning we put Allison in the stroller and off we went to see the city. We first went to the riverwalk. It was cool to see the water because I was on land. There was a bridge that we saw and I was so glad that we didn't have to go over that one. We then walked to the World War II Museum. It mostly focused on D-Day. As we were walking through, there was one picture the the tour guide pointed out. He said "Do you see this guy?" It was a guy smiling in the picture but it was right before they were to storm the beaches. You wouldn't think that you would be smiling right before such an event. The tour guide said, "this guy actually came through here and he saw himself in that picture. He was the guy smiling. The tour guide asked him why he and some others were smiling. The guy told him that one of the guys that was loading into the boat almost fell off the ladder and someone yelled out, don't die before the Germans get a chance to kill you. They started laughing and smiling and that happened to be when this photography was taken." The tour guide tried to get this guy to sign his little book that he keeps with him but he wouldn't do it because he said that he wasn't the hero, the heroes are the ones that died fighting. It was a very interesting museum and of course I had my own personal tour guide. However, being married to Chris I have learned a lot and so it was mostly putting pieces together rather then learning all about it.
We then walked back and had lunch at a Restaurant called Palace Cafe. We walked in and thought, ah-ho, but the looks of this place, it is going to be SUPER expensive with the white table clothes and all. However, it wasn't too bad considering. As above mentioned I don't have very many choices of things to eat in a city close to the ocean, when I don't like seafood. I did find a chicken and sausage gumbo. I didn't know gumbo was a thick, thick soup. I thought it was a type of seafood. I was glad I tried it. It was very good. Chris had some kind of shrimp dish and it had lots of shrimp in it but as part of the presentation of his meal, one shrimp still had its entire body on it, eyes and feet and all. I guess it was to show that his food was fresh, but to me it was disgusting! We then walked down Bourbon street. It reminded us of Las Vegas, just more cramped. It was very party-like and way too much nudity. I was surprised at how all the building touched each other. There was not a single bit of space between the building. Coming from the west I am not used to that.
Then we went back to our hotel and changed clothes for the conference. I was glad to go in and be there to see what all happens in these things. Luckily Allison was a perfect baby for the 2 hours and unless you saw her, you would have never known there was a baby in there. After the conference we went back out and walked to a different part of the river walk. I was so excited to see ships out on the water and one was even moving. It just totally fascinated me. Chris said seeing the Mississippi River and the ships, I almost acted like a child I was so excited and amused. We also saw a steamboat which was really cool. We contemplated taking a ride but it was $65 a person for the ride and dinner and $45 a person without the dinner. We still thought that was too much so we didn't do it. The weather was extremely nice while we were there so that made it even better.
We left Sunday morning and it took us eight hours to make it home but it seemed like a longer trip then that. Overall, Allison did very well, during the trip. Numerous times, we thought we had forgotten something because she was so quiet, which was good. We almost sort of felt like we had a vacation all by ourselves.
We thought Matthew would be so excited to see us. In my mind, he would come runny, saying mommy, mommy, mommy, your home, I missed you!!!! and give me a great big hug and never let me go. I guess maybe I was hoping that he would at least act like he missed me a little bit. However, none of that happened. We walked into the Hansen's house and he just came over, still upset with a frown on his face about a car that he and Joseph had been fighting over just minutes before. He didn't even give me a hug but sort of gave Chris' leg a hug. He had to be told to give me a hug, little stinker. I think Matthew did well at his friends' houses. I almost got the feeling that he wanted us to leave so that he could stay with Joseph.
An amazing thing did happen though, Chris actually missed his little boy. I was surprised when Chris told me that because he mentions on a regular basis how nice it was before we had kids and how we were able to do so many more things, and have less responsibility. I figured he would experience this time without Matthew and say, see now wasn't that so nice? So I am happy to announce he did miss Matthew and was glad to see him, however he was also hoping for a little more excitement when Matthew saw us.
All in all, we had a great trip and realized that we are even more grateful to our friends for watching Matthew. Had we gone with our original plan it would have been so difficult and we probably wouldn't have enjoyed the city. Since we are not drinkers or partiers, New Orleans is definitely not a city for us but the only reason Chris would voluntarily go back is for the food. He loved the food.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
ALLISON, MIKE, ELAINA, ERIN
JAMI, DAVID, and JOSEPH
We wouldn't have had as great of a trip without your willingness to watch Matthew. You guys are absolutely amazing friends and we are indebted to you all forever.
Thank You
THANK YOU
!!!!!!!!!!THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Chris and I on the river walk, with the Mississippi River behind us.

Do you see that BIG bridge behind me? I am glad I never had to drive on it!

A cool bus we walked pass on our way to the WWII Museum

Catholic church in downtown French Quarters

Allison and I

Sherman tank in the WWII Museum
It points right at you as you walk in the door. I little frightening!

Big ships which I thought was so cool to see. I thought it was so cool to see a big boat and especially when it was moving! (I know I am so lame)

Standing next to the Mississippi River

Standing in front of the Steamboat that was super expensive. At least I could take a picture with it in the background.

Chris and I after we ate at Landry's Restaurant Saturday night. Chris had Seafood Gumbo and something else that was seafoody. I had Blacken Chicken Fettuccine. Mm mm Good!!


Another thing I just remembered (as if this wasn't long enough already). Since we don't have a cell phone and our trackfone didn't work either, we just bought a phone card so that we could call and check on Matthew when we were in the hotel. When we came home, Chris was filling out the paperwork for Blinn to reimburse us and saw some charges on the hotel bill that we didn't really understand. Then we figured it out, we got charge $2 to $6 everytime we called the 1-800 number on our prepaid phone card. I am thinking it probably would have just been cheaper to not have a phone card and just called long distance with the hotel phone. We obviously got charged just to use the phone and the we used up minutes on the phone card we bought. We couldn't believe that they actually charged us to use the phone to dial a 1-800 number. It is a good thing that we didn't need to talk a lot to Matthew on the phone. We were quite shocked that staying at the Sheraton and paying $125 a night which was discounted we were still charged to use the phone. Another reason why we were out of our class there. It still irritates me:( Oh well, despite that we had a wonderful trip.

Smiles!!

Since I couldn't get a really good smile with the digital camera I figured we should try the video camera so here are few smiles.
Turn on your speakers, there is a cute song to go with it:)

Smiles?

Allison gave us lots of smiles this weekend while we were in New Orleans. Maybe she could tell that she had all of our attention or she is just getting older and smiles more often. She is getting so chunky. Look at those cheeks. She definitely takes after me in the cheek department. She did really well, while we dragged her around every where we went. On the 8 hour trip to New Orleans, a couple times we had to look in her car seat to make sure she was still there. She only woke up every three hours, right on schedule to eat. It was wonderful.
We did a lot of walking and so she was in the stroller most of Saturday, which you would think would be a comfortable ride, but not in New Orleans. Let's just say that you could tell the sidewalks were old and didn't get much upkeep. Poor girl, I am surprised she was able to sleep at all in her stroller as we walked around because it was like we were offroading the whole time.
During the two hours that we were in where Chris presented his paper, she just slept and then she started opening her eyes about 3/4 of the way through. I already had the bottle ready so I just put it in her mouth and luckily she drank it very quietly, she even had a couple burps that were very quiet, it was as if she knew she needed to stay quiet in order to be in the room. She did excellent.
Since she slept so well during the days, the nights weren't quite as great. She didn't sleep much but I guess it was better to have her sleep during the day so that we could do anything we wanted and enjoy the experience of New Orleans.
On the way home, she was a little more fussy but I think she was just getting done with being in her car seat. At one point she just cried and wouldn't even take her binki and she wasn't hungry. Luckily, that didn't last more then 10 minutes and she was able to go to sleep.
Though she smiled a lot for us, I couldn't ever get a really good smile on camera. Though I had the camera ready, by the time it actually took the picture she was done smiling. These were the closest I got to her smiling.

Allison - 8 weeks old

Research Park

On Sunday since it was General Conference we watched Conference on the computer and therefore didn't leave our house in the morning. After Matthew's nap we figured he needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I have always heard of people going to Research Park and feeding the ducks but had never been there before. Recently while driving I saw the sign for Research Park and so we decided to try and find the ducks. It was such a beautiful day with a slight breeze that felt so good. We walked around and saw many people and their dogs. We eventually saw the ducks but were lucky if the dogs didn't chase them away.
I love this picture of Chris and Matthew side by side.

After the dogs chased the ducks away at this particular spot and they didn't come back we went and found more ducks. We started feeding them and then 2 geese came over. They were big and loud, I was actually kind of scared of them because of how loud they were. I was afraid they would just come after us so I was like a mother bear and always stayed in between the geese and Matthew. If they were going to attack, they would have to get me first. It was really fun to be a family in the nice weather and feed the ducks (and geese). Allison was awake the whole time but was very content with just staying in the stroller enjoying the weather and the ride.

As we were walking back Matthew kept telling me to run faster. One of the times that he ran faster, he tripped and fell. Poor little boy but he got up. He immediately told us that he needed a band-aid. You could barely even tell that he fell. Unfortunately, we didn't have any band-aids with us. He has really been into "needing band-aids" lately and every little thing he thinks he needs a band-aid. We don't even have the fun ones, just the regular boring tan ones. It is so fun to listen to the things he comes up with. I just love my little boy.

Sleeping

Children just look so peaceful when they are asleep. Baby Allison is no exception.
Our little girl is getting chunky. She must be healthy because she is getting the chubby cheeks.
Matthew absolutely adores his baby sister. He always has to go see her when he wakes up and one time be got really mad that I let a friend hold baby Allison so that I could hold Matthew. He acted as though he wasn't going to get his baby sister back. He likes to be right in her face and often tells her "My name is Matthew ok? My name is Matthew." It is very cute. I love that he adores his sister. He loves to give her his toys but I am sure when she gets older and she actually wants his toys he may be more hesitant to share but right now it is fun.

Staying Afloat?

It has been awhile since I posted anything so I thought I would do a quick post with random pictures. I have been trying to keep my head above water this week, and so what am I doing at 12:30am posting? Basically waiting for Allison to wake up so I can feed her BEFORE I go to sleep. I know as soon as I fall asleep she will start crying so it is "easier" for me to just stay awake. However, many times at night she doesn't like to go back to sleep and I hope this next bottle and/or night is not one of those times.
I feel like I am just running around "trying" to get things done. We go somewhere, grocery store, preschool, Know Your Religion, or Music Makers every single morning so feel like I don't have as much time to do my housework. However, I enjoy having places for Matthew to go so it gets him/us out of the house. Although that just leaves the afternoons to get things done and making dinner is usually one of those things that has to get done. Unfortunately, the laundry that is suppose to get done hasn't been the highest on the "to do" list and I think the ironing from that laundry is even farther down. Surprisingly, I did actually fold the laundry today but I still have that ironing to do. Maybe I will do that after I finish posting this, but I am sure she will wake up just as I get started....Then again, if she wakes up then I would go to bed sooner...maybe.

Last month for preschool the kids have been learning about themselves and especially their five senses, with the exception of the farm animals so we could go to the county fair. Last week was seeing and so they got to make binoculars. The kids really liked looking through them. We went outside to see what we could see. Behind Amy's house there is an Elementary school being built so there is lots of construction and big equipment. The kids needed a lift to see over the fence, so that is what they are all looking at. If you are feeling sorry for Matthew, I did go and lift him up to see after I took the picture. Matthew LOVES his binoculars, however, he started playing toys in Kyle's room and took them off which I didn't know. When we got home I asked him where his binoculars where and we had a HUGE meltdown because he left them at Kyle's house. We got them two days later, thankfully.

Matthew really wanted to look at our wedding album and he pointed out Mommy and Daddy on every page, which was a lot of pointing out.

Matthew is completely content with his big dump truck and bobby watching a movie.

This is a typical Allison position especially at night when I am just too tired to really hold her. She is preferring to only go to sleep in someone's arms. She used to be really good at sleeping in her bassinet...but that changed. Then she would do excellent sleeping in her swing...which that is also changing to being held to go to sleep. This leaves for me not having much time while I am constantly holding her. I have a feeling something has got to change very soon. But this picture is kind of cute because I think it looks like she is giving me a bear hug:)